


Possessive Wolves

by bilesandstiles



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Confused Derek, F/F, F/M, Jealousy, M/M, Possessive Derek, Scisaac - Freeform, Steo Vs Sterek, Teen Wolf, idek i'm sorry, sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-04-22 19:31:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 56,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4847597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bilesandstiles/pseuds/bilesandstiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek meets adorable Stiles after a play, and literally can't get enough. Stiles has a jealous ex that wants him back. Derek just wants to protect an innocent boy from all possible attacks, that's all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Nutcracker

Derek had been in a foul mood the entire morning. He had barely said a word as he ate his breakfast, and he only communicated in short phrases whenever someone attempted to strike a conversation.

“Don’t worry, Dere, the play won’t be so bad. You’ll see,” his mother had said when he had called her phone in an attempt to have her take his place.

Now, he groaned loudly as Laura gripped his arm excitedly and dragged him through a crowd into an even more crowded building. It should have been embarrassing to Derek, the way she was dragging him along like a child with a new puppy, but he had learned to live with her overexcited state. Now, it only tired him out.

“Oh, gosh,” Laura cried, startling a group of elderly women making their way inside. “I can’t wait to see the Nutcracker again after all this time.”

Derek made an apologetic face at the women, who smiled gently in return. He turned back towards his sister. “Laura, it’s only been a few years since we last saw it.”

“Pfft, I know,” Laura huffed in response, “but it’s just that we haven’t seen it since mom came with us that one time.”

That day stood out clearly in Derek’s mind. Just as he was being dragged into seeing the play today, he had been forced then too, kicking and screaming, to see the play for the first time with his mother and sister. He hadn’t enjoyed it at all, which is why he was very reluctant to go today.

“It’s too bad mom couldn’t come. I heard she’s pretty busy with trying to finish up work before Christmas.”

“She’ll take you next year probably,” Derek offered, smelling the disappointment she was trying so hard to hide. Being a part of a pack as close as theirs meant that they were more in tune with each other than they could help.

Laura brightened some, forgetting about her temporary troubles. “Anyways, it’ll start soon so let’s hurry up and take our seats. I’m hoping the tickets mom purchased were as good as last time’s.”

Derek made many more apologetic gestures as she bulldozed her way through the crowd, hoping that most of these people weren’t sitting too close to them. When they reached the usher for their area, Derek handed her the tickets without a word. Derek was desperately praying that they could move on quickly, but nothing ever went well for him, did it?

The girl was flustered from the moment he held out his ticket. She was searching hard for a way to continue the conversation before she directed him to their seating area. “You’ve been to the Nutcracker before?” she finally spat out, looking at Derek hopefully. He only nodded.  
“I’m sorry, Darling, but girls don’t really interest this one. Now, would you point us in the right direction?”

“Laura,” he hissed, and then a quiet, “I’m sorry,” to the girl before taking Laura’s arm and heading in the direction the startled girl had pointed.

Laura was always this way whenever it concerned Derek, and much to his annoyance she probably would always be this forward. She was protective of her little brother, even though he could clearly take care of himself.

“You don’t have to be so harsh. Ten more seconds and we wouldn’t have had to talk to her anymore.”

“I could smell the anxiety rolling off of her,” Laura said, winking. “And besides, I don’t want to deal with even more people staring at us.”

He let the conversation drift into comfortable silence as they walked down the carpeted stairs and found their row of seats, which were seated closer to the right side of the stage. The chairs were covered in velvety material that Laura swore she remembered from the last time they were there. Derke didn’t have the heart to tell her the entire theater was remodeled and the chairs were brand new. He lowered himself into the too-small chairs and motioned for his sister to do the same.

“Oh, I forgot a program,” Laura said suddenly, “would you mind if I ran and got one? I’ll be really quick don’t worry.”

Derek shot her a look. She knew what would happen if she were gone too long. No matter where they went, if he was alone, he’d either be harassed by women, modeling agents, or even sometimes small children.

Once, when he was left alone in a supermarket for no more than five minutes, he was bombarded by two kids, a boy and a girl, who were roughly five years old. They couldn’t find their mother in the store, and stumbled upon Derek (who they immediately decided would help them). They paid no mind to his scowls and gruff appearance and attached themselves to his arms and legs. They insisted that he would help, and so he found their mother who worriedly pulled them away without a single thank you. He shrugged and went on with shopping until found his own family again. His sister only raised an eyebrow when the two kids waved goodbye to him, but Derek didn’t offer an explanation.

Laura was off getting the programs somewhere near the entrance, so Derek crossed his arms across his chest and decided to close his eyes for a short moment. He was startled awake by the dimming of lights and a man’s booming voice announcing the sponsors of the ballet. Laura was nowhere in sight. Pressing two fingers to his temple, Derek watched as the orchestra stood and bowed.

The curtains opened to begin the play, and the orchestra started to play. Derek watched the actual play for a few moments, before getting bored and switching his gaze towards the orchestra. He studied the different violinists and cellists and the other musicians, before he focused on the percussionist. Normally, when they had come to this theater before, the percussionist was an older man not worth paying much attention to. However, this one was very obviously in his teens. Pale skinned and dark haired, this kid was way too young to be a part of this orchestra but seemed intently focused on the music stand in front of him. He was licking and biting his lips worriedly, and Derek couldn’t help but watch. Out of curiosity, of course. He wanted to know how a younger guy could end up in the orchestra for a ballet.  
His thoughts were interrupted as Laura smacked his head with her rolled up program. “Staring is rude, Derek. Besides, those stuffy old violinists aren’t your type.”  
Derek immediately felt relief as he realized that she believed that he was watching the violinists behind the kid. He wouldn’t know what to do if she thought he was watching a skinny guy like that. Except, he had been watching that skinny guy.

“I got you a program too,” Laura whispered, handing him one. “Just in case.” She gave a pretty smile to the mother seated beside her, who was shooting daggers at her for interrupting the play.

He looked at it for a moment, forgetting almost entirely about the scene up on stage, before he opened it up and starting flipping through it. There was barely enough light to read the words “Members of the Orchestra”, before the scene went dark and people began to clap. Derek scowled as he attempted to read the words in the dark.

“Your eyes, you idiot,” Laura hissed at him. With a jolt he realized his eyes were glowing a bright, werewolf yellow. He closed his eyes for a moment until they went back to normal, and then went back to watching the stage absentmindedly. Normally, he was way more careful than this. He was just distracted today, that’s all. He shook any more thoughts away and continued searching through the names of the orchestra. His eyes seemed to ignore all of the names, until he found what he was looking for.

 **Temporary Percussionist……………… Stiles Stilinski.**  
_What a name_ , he thought to himself. _Poor kid._

Throughout the play, Derek felt his eyes wandering constantly towards the skinny percussionist. He watched as the guy played the triangle, tambourine, and other various things to complete the sounds of the Nutcracker. Every time Derek caught himself staring, he would violently shake his head once or twice and force himself to pay attention to the play. No matter what he did though, his eyes would wander back towards Stiles. It almost felt weird to Derek, to know this boy’s name even though they hadn’t met.

Dancers were leaping off to the side of the stage, and were gone in a short moment. The heavy curtains curtains closed and the lights came back on signaling the intermission. The orchestra pit was emptying out as the members went to get water or use the restroom, and Stiles was nowhere in sight. Derek frowned, unable to find him.

“I’m getting some water,” he informed Laura, rising up out of the tiny chairs. They creaked loudly, and he cringed.

“Get me a sugar cookie, will you? I heard someone say they were good.”

He nodded to Laura and began his way up towards the hallway that led back to the concessions area. He nodded briefly in what he hoped was a polite manner to the ticket girl, who blushed profusely. Derek really didn’t want to be rude, but he seriously didn’t want to talk to her. He had other things on his mind. Things like a skinny, pale percussionist.  
He walked absentmindedly, hands in pockets, until he reached the long elegant counters at the end of the hallway. It opened up into a rectangular room that they had passed through walking inside. Derek studied the prices of the cookie sizes, and decided, what the hell, he’d get Laura the large one. Just as he was about to pay, someone farther down the counter caught his attention. He had to peer around the woman in the line next to him, but he caught sight of wild brown hair. The man behind the counter cleared his throat, clearly in a bad mood from the large crowd that had already been through the line. Derek handed him the few dollars he owed and then nearly forgot to take the food he had purchased.  
He walked quickly towards where he had seen Stiles buying something, but he was left spinning around furiously trying to locate him. He found him again, standing near a water fountain and chatting with a young guy who appeared to be from the orchestra too. The other guy was tan, with dark hair and a puppy-dog demeanor. Derek got the sense that these two were extremely familiar with each other, and his face sunk momentarily.

“I’m doing okay, right?” Stiles was asking, looking oddly worried.

“You’re doing great,” the guy replied, placing a hand on Stiles’s shoulder. The gesture made Derek’s mood turn sour. He slowed down and decided to wait before introducing himself.  
_Wait, I’m going to introduce myself?_ Derek thought suddenly.

“Ah, that’s good,” Stiles was saying, a relieved look on his face. I was worried that I’d be off or something. Thanks for helping me out with the practicing and all earlier.”

“No problem,” said the guy, removing his hand finally. Derek cooled after that, and realized how stupid he was acting over a guy he hasn’t even met yet. This would make Derek seem like a stalker, and vaguely, he wondered how creeped out Stiles would be by that.

“Anyways, Allison is coming to the next showing I think, so she’ll get to see the two of us once she comes into town.”  
“I should’ve known you’d have your girlfriend come,” Stiles said wryly. “Can’t wait to see her, huh?”  
The tan boy laughed a charmingly, and Derek was strangely satisfied to hear that this guy was not only straight, but had a girlfriend. His mind cleared when he came to terms that he was not a threat.

Derek forgot to listen in for a moment, as he tried to think of some way to casually introduce himself, when Scott excused himself and walked back towards another hallway. Stiles finally unwrapped the chocolate chip cookie that had been in his hand for a while now, and bit into it.  
I’m an idiot. Derek thought, as he caught himself admiring the way Stiles’s neck moved when he swallowed, and how his long fingers held the wrapping. He shook his head for a moment, trying to gather courage, and walked towards Stiles.

With less than fifteen feet between them, Stiles suddenly had a revelation and dropped the nearly finished cookie into the trash and scampered into the same hallway the tan guy had disappeared into. When the door closed behind him, the Orchestra Members Only sign stood out clearly. Derek kicked himself mentally for not acting sooner.

A woman brushed by him quickly in the same direction, and a breeze hit him gently. There was a smell simply so familiar that Derek knew it had to be from where Stiles was leaning against the wall. Attempting nonchalance, Derek leaned next to the spot, and inhaled deeply. He was extremely satisfied when the smell was the same as the one on the breeze.

There was a cough off to Derek’s side. He turned his head, startled to see a man standing there. Derek felt blood rush to his cheeks in the fiercest blush he’d felt since he was a kid, and looked away, embarrassed.

The man shook his head. “The show’s started again.”  
Derek jolted away from the wall in surprise, and nodded a thanks to the man before taking off to find his seat again. He didn’t even register the usher this time, as he found his seat. She was disappointed.

“You’re late,” Laura said, snatching the cookie from his hand. “That smells good.”  
“It is a cookie,” he whispered to her, noticing the glares coming from the people around them.  
“No, not the cookie. Did you put on weird cologne?” She was sniffing his shoulder intently. “It kinda fits you.”

Derek looked studied her face, watching for any hint of a joke or amusement. There was none.  
“Uh, yeah,” he said, hoping the conversation would end. Luckily, she let her attention drift back to the ballet, absentmindedly eating the sugar cookie.

Derek wondered what she meant, that the smell fit. In an odd way, Derek thought the smell suited him too. It was probably just the fact that he knew it was Stiles’s.

He watched the performance, er, Stiles’s performance mostly, all the way up until the lights flickered back on and the curtain closed. A few moments later, they opened again and people began clapping for the cast members assembled neatly in rows.

When the orchestra rose behind the conductor, Derek clapped a tiny bit harder than he had for the cast, and Laura raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious, but didn’t say a word.

As the curtains closed the final time and the orchestra packed up, Derek nearly had to sit down as he realized that he’d never spoken to Stiles, and he likely wouldn’t see him again. Derek felt ridiculous for feeling such despair, but he really couldn’t help it. He wanted to see Stiles again.

“Dere,” Laura said, bringing him back to reality. “We’ve actually got to leave you know?”

He looked around, completely shocked to see that most of the people were already clearing out, and the people left were mostly older couples trying to be careful on the stairs. One woman looked utterly nervous clutching the handrail, and it seemed as if she was alone.

“Ma’am?” Derek said, offering his hand, “do you need any help?”

“Oh thank goodness,” she cried, gripping his hand so tightly that it would’ve hurt if Derek had been human. “I was sure I was ever going to make it up these awful stairs.”

Derek didn’t say anything else, which seemed to give the old woman permission to speak more. She was extremely talkative, as it turned out, and as soon as she was on the last step, Derek felt as if she had been talking for an hour. He didn’t truly mind though, for some reason.

“Thank you, dear,” she told Derek. She turned to Laura, “Make sure this one doesn’t get away from you.”

“Oh no, we’re not-” Laura replied quickly.

“She’s my sist-” Derek said.

“Oh, silly me,” she said, waving a hand. “I always make assumptions. Well you certainly do look alike, now that I can look at you two. Very attractive siblings.” Her smile was genuine.

Derek normally would have been uncomfortable with so much scrutiny from a stranger, but oddly he liked the old woman, and he could tell Laura didn’t mind her.

“Whatever girl meets this one,” she whispered loudly to Laura, “better hold on to him tight.”  
Derek could literally feel Laura’s desire to comment coming, and he made a grab to silence her before she said anything. He only managed to swipe harmlessly as she ducked to avoid him.

“Everyone always says that about Derek here,” Laura joked. “But they’re usually disappointed when they realize he’s into men.”  
Derek felt his face flush again, and wanted to look anywhere but at these two women.

“Ah, what a shame for them. My grandson is the exact same, and I love him to pieces. Oh, speaking of, I need to go find him. He promised to meet me here.”

Derek nodded politely at the woman, and she released his arm gently. Laura waved goodbye to her, and took her brother’s arm.

“Goodbye, Derek! Thank you for helping an old woman,” she winked at him.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling almost genuinely.

“Wow,” Laura commented in the hallways. “When was the last time you smiled even a little bit?”

“Shut up,” he told her, making her giggle, much to his annoyance.

“Such a gentleman,” she mocked.

He walked with her on his arm all the way past the counters and the spot Stiles had been in, through the big double doors and outside into the chilly air. Laura wrapped her coat tighter around herself, and grinned.

“Even with werewolf warmth it’s a little cold.” Derek nodded a little. “Okay, Dere, Cora is going to pick me up here and drive me to go see mum. Are you sure you don’t want to come too?”

“I’m sure. I’ve got some stuff to pick up,” he was trying not to shut her down, but Derek really didn’t feel like sitting through a car ride with only his two sisters. They’d talk him to death with questions and comments about his life.

“Oh well, I’ll send mum your love. Thanks for taking me even though you probably hated it.”

Derek had to hide a laugh, because he immediately wondered what he would do now if he hadn’t laid eyes on Stiles. It probably would’ve been miserable to never know someone as awkwardly attractive as Stiles existed. Even though Derek wouldn’t ever see him again.

As soon as Cora’s nice, expensive looking car pulled up, Cora honked unnecessarily . Laura opened the door and got inside. Both sister’s waved goodbye as they pulled away from the curb. Derek waved back before turning the other direction.

Instead, he walked gloomily down towards the parking lot where he’d left his car. He was continually kicking a small pebble down the sidewalk in front of him, and too strong of a kick sent it skittering across the pavement into the base of a sign for the bus station. Just as he was getting closer to the bus stop, he was startled by someone calling his name.

“Oh, it’s Derek again!” came the old woman. “I didn’t think I’d see you so soon.”

Derek turned around, unable to hide the confusion on his face, But, once he recognized the old woman who’d called his name, he smiled without thought. It was the boy whose arm she was holding that startled him the most. He studied the pale face before realizing who it was.

“This is the young man who helped me down those awful stairs,” she said motioning almost proudly towards Derek.

“Thank you for helping my grandma out, stairs always are a bit hard for her.” Stiles gave Derek a genuine smile that could have literally melted Derek into a pool of fuzzy warmth.

“It really wasn’t a problem,” said Derek, surprising himself with how calm he sounded, when really he was a mess. He could feel his pulse quickening and his cheeks flushing in a way that he hoped looked like it was from the cold.

“No really, most people wouldn’t have stopped to help her,” Stiles continued sticking his free hand in his pocket. Derek’s was fighting with himself to not blow this chance. He could smell the already familiar scent that coated Stiles at the moment.

“It’s my pleasure,” Derek said simply, when he realized he was taking to long to respond. Stiles met his eyes uncertainly, searching for something in Derek’s face.

“Derek here is a real looker,” Stiles’s grandmother said, causing them both to flush awkwardly and look away. Derek concealed a grin thinking about the way Stiles had returned his gaze. “When’s the bus coming, sweetheart?” she asked sourly, studying the extremely small print out of the schedule.

“You’re taking the bus?” Derek said, glancing at Stiles for confirmation. He nodded.  
“I’ve got a jeep, but it broke down before I could get here, so a buddy of mine drove us here. He had to go somewhere, but we’re fine taking the bus home.”

He saw Stiles just standing there, shivering a bit from the cold and couldn't help himself. Derek knew that it was probably a bad idea before he even opened his mouth, but the words came tumbling out before he could help it.  
“Do you want a ride?”

There was a moment of silence where Stiles seemed to be considering it, but the werewolf in Derek could smell the discomfort. Derek jumped to make amends for his outburst. “I know we just met and all, but it really doesn’t trouble me or anything.”

“Do you live in town, Derek?” Stiles’s grandmother asked kindly.  
“I actually live just outside of Beacon Hills, but if you all live here I’d be happy to still drive you.”  
“I live in town,” she replied, “but coincidentally Stiles lives in Beacon Hills too with his father. It’s amazing we met such a sweet man today, hm Stiles?”

 

Derek turned towards Stiles, a hopeful glint in his eyes. He was trying to conceal the nervousness in his stance, but he was anxious to hear what the boy would say.

“I mean, if it’s alright with you,” he stated slowly, turning towards his grandmother.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m totally fine with Derek driving us.”

“My car is just over in that parking lot, ma’am,” Derek said, taking a step backwards cautiously.

“Call me Genim,” she replied, lightly smacking Derek’s arm.

He watched Stiles for a moment, and was slightly upset that he still didn’t seem comfortable with their decision. Derek wanted to say something to ease Stiles’s fear, but he wasn’t quick enough.

“My dad’s a cop in Beacon Hills,” Stiles said, causing Derek to wonder if he was purposefully telling this information.

“Oh,” Derek replied simply. “My family runs a company in this city, but we own a property outside of Beacon Hills. That’s why I live out there.”

Genim asked for the company name, so Derek explained that it was centered around disaster relief and rehousing people who needed it. They looked shocked to hear the Hale name.

“You’re a Hale?” Stiles asked, clearly interested now. “My dad spent a lot of time trying to figure out who started that fire at your place a few years ago. It drove him nuts they couldn’t figure it out.”

“Yeah, that was a huge problem,” Derek replied, happy that Stiles recognized his name. The boy relaxed considerably after that.

“Thanks for this. I hate riding the bus,” he said simply, grinning bigger than Derek had previously seen. He liked that smile on Stiles. Derek wanted to be the cause of that smile more often. “The people smell weird sometimes, and all the accidental touching makes me nervous.”

Derek almost had to grab his own throat to stop the growl that nearly erupted from him at the thought of a stranger touching Stiles. He had managed to stop the growl, but instead made a strange choking sound, so he played it off as a cough.

“I hope you aren’t catching anything,” Genim said worriedly. Derek was slightly happy about the concern in her voice. He was happy that a part of Stiles’s family liked him.

They found their way to Derek’s car quickly. He unlocked it, and waited hesitantly for one of them to determine who would be sitting in the front. Realizing they were waiting on him yet again, Derek opened the front door and motioned for Genim to sit. He helped her in and closed the door gently and Stiles smiled at him again before climbing into the back.

That smile alone was enough to send chills down Derek’s body and make his heart jump. He could hear Genim speaking sweetly from inside the car, telling Stiles to make sure he thanked Derek. He grinned, silently thanking his werewolf hearing. He got in, turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot with Genim navigating. Despite the traffic from the play, they got to her house rather quickly. Her house was an adorable size, with a well-managed yard and plenty of flowers. The house was painted mint green and he found himself liking the pink door. It was exactly the type of house he imagined for the old woman.

Derek was almost sad about how short the drive was. He assumed Stiles would be staying with his grandmother as they got out to walk her to the door. After unlocking the front door, she turned to him

“Thank you for driving me home, Derek,” Genim’s face broke into a crinkly smile. “You be safe driving my grandson home, you understand?”

Derek realized he had broken out into a large smile, and tried to dial it back before too much damage was done. He hadn’t realized exactly how upset he had looked as they got out of his car. Stiles made sure she got into her house safely, before walking back to Derek who was waiting outside his car.

“Are you sure you’re alright driving me home, too?” Stiles asked hesitantly, before opening the passenger door.

“Don’t be stupid,” Derek replied, “I’m going in the same direction anyways.” Before Stiles could do any more talking, Derek opened the door and got in. Stiles followed suit, and Derek couldn’t smell any discomfort this time.

The drive to Beacon Hill would normally have taken about twenty minutes, but it seemed like everyone in this city was out on the streets at this time. For obvious reasons, Derek didn’t mind the stand-still traffic at all. Soon enough, Stiles was chattering away animatedly about things that didn’t concern Derek at all. But still, he enjoyed listening.  
At a stop light, Derek waved on a passerby, who waved back and walked past the car onto the opposite side of the street. Stiles was watching him cross determinedly, and Derek raised an eyebrow. Stiles didn’t notice this, and continued to watch the pedestrian, who appeared to be in his early twenties. He was talking to a woman outside of the restaurant on the corner. Finally, the light was green and Derek pulled out into the intersection.

“Does that happen often?” Stiles asked, nonchalantly. Derek was obviously confused, so he elaborated. “Guys like that, just staring you down.”

“That never happens,” Derek stated, utterly serious. It was only girls that would stare, and obviously he wasn’t interested in them.

“Bullshit,” Stiles said, causing Derek to glance at him quickly. He was relieved to see Stiles was only joking. “That guy was hardcore staring into the car, didn’t you notice?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t notice much according to my sister.”

“That’s totally insane, he was very interested. Although,” Stiles laughed, “you probably wouldn’t be interested in guys with all kinds of girls throwing themselves at your feet. Lucky.”

“No, actually I’m interested in men,” Derek shrugged, secretly happy to have said that out loud.

“Oh,” Stiles replied quickly, “sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. Scott’s always telling me I talk too much. That’s my best friend, by the way. He’s in the orchestra too. Plays the cello.”

Derek remembered the friend Stiles was speaking with outside the concessions area, and nodded. He glanced at Stiles, who was blushing profusely at the window. Derek was caught up in the rosy tints of his cheeks, when Stiles met his gaze. Derek immediately checked for discomfort, but didn’t notice any as Stiles locked eyes with him. The car behind them gave an irritated honk. In unison, they both whipped forward and Derek realized he hadn’t moved forward with the traffic. There was an awkward silence after, and neither could bring themselves to look at the other again.

“Where should I go from here?” Derek asked finally, as they passed the welcome sign for Beacon Hills. He felt Stiles’s gaze, and his heart beat painfully a few times.  
Stiles was opening his mouth to reply, when his stomach gave the loudest growl Derek had ever heard. His eyes widened and he clutched at his stomach. Derek chuckled, and slowed the car.

“I didn’t eat anything at the play,” Stiles moaned.

“I’m extremely hungry too,” he responded, realizing this was a chance for a little more time. “Want to stop really quick to eat?”

Stiles happily agreed, and they pulled into the nearest diner. It was Derek’s favorite, and he was suddenly very proud of his choice as he realized Stiles was familiar with it as well.

“My dad eats here all the time, despite my best efforts to get him to eat healthier. Oh, it is near dinner,” Stiles said, mostly to himself, “maybe I should ask him what he’d want?” Stiles pulled out an ordinary looking cell phone, with a sliding keyboard and everything. Without saying anything, Derek pulled out his phone and waved it in the air for Stiles to see.

“We have the same phone? That’s a ridiculous coincidence,” Stiles exclaimed. “Does yours have that weird contact app thing?”

Derek nodded, knowing what he was referencing. It was an outdated app that let their phones pick up nearby signals and exchange numbers. Stiles held out his phone with the app pulled up, and blushed as Derek glanced at him. Before the boy could change his mind, Derek pulled the app up on his phone and held it up. They synched pretty quickly and Stiles sent a test text to check if it worked.

“I’ve never been able to use that app,” Stiles marveled. “Cool.”

“You gonna call your dad?” Derek said, motioning to the phone again. Stiles’s dad was a cop, wasn’t he? Derek realized that it’d probably be strange that Stiles was riding with a complete stranger. He also realized vaguely that cops own guns.

“Yeah, just let me see if he wants to meet us here,” Stiles was already typing the number into the phone, “or if he wants me to pick it up for him.” Derek swallowed hard as Stiles phoned his dad.

“Hey dad,” Stiles said after a couple beats of silence. He explained that he was at the diner, and asked about the food. Unsurprisingly, his dad asked who he was with. “I’m with a friend. You know Derek Hale, right?”

Stiles glanced at Derek and covered the mic on the phone. Leaning over, he whispered, “he won’t mind, don’t worry,” and then focused back onto the phone call. Derek’s senses instantly went haywire as he registered how close together they had just been. He could smell that same scent even more acutely now, and Derek closed his eyes to inhale it. Stiles laughed suddenly, causing Derek to open his eyes again. Stiles had an amused expression on his face, but continued to listen to his dad. When he hung up finally, the young boy turned to Derek suddenly.

“Werewolf,” he stated, confidence on his face. Derek felt his eyes widen, and he immediately went to feign ignorance. Before he could say anything, Stiles put up a hand. “Don’t even try to deny it, Derek, I know.”

“How?” the werewolf asked simply, not sure what else to do.

“My best friend, Scott, was bitten a while ago. He moved here to escape that alpha. You’re a part of the Hale pack, right?”

Derek nodded, unsure of how to process the fact that Stiles knew. “You knew the entire time?”

Stiles shook his head. “I had my suspicions when you said you were a Hale, but I didn’t know if you were human or not. Scott’s been looking for a pack, and rumor has it that the Hales are welcoming and kind. I decided to trust you when you offered to drive us because of that.”

Derek was quiet. So Stiles had only agreed to ride with him to find out if he knew anything about his family’s pack. He was probably looking for a way to ensure Scott’s way into the pack.

“That, and I really do hate bus rides.”

His comment made Derek smile, and Stiles laughed. “I have my dad’s order, so let’s go in and eat please. I’m starving, man.”

Stiles went inside, and Derek wondered if they’d sit down and eat together. Almost as if sensing Derek’s question, the younger boy walked over to a table and plopped down ungracefully. Their waitress was a woman in her forties, and she luckily wasn’t interested in them at all. They ordered without difficulty, and their easy conversation returned, much to Derek’s relief.

Stiles had an extremely bad habit of trying to talk with his mouth full. It made Derek laugh as the boy in front of him talked incessantly while simultaneously sticking food in his mouth. Stiles wasn’t sure exactly what made the man across from him smile, but he smiled back from time to time. It made Derek’s knees go weak.

Just as they began eating, Derek realized that it had gone strangely quiet in the diner. Everyone had left other than two tables with some lacrosse players gathered around them. They were loudly joking around, and calling out to each other even though they were so close together. Stiles noticed them around the same time Derek did, but tried to pay no them no attention.

“What’re you staring at, Stilinski?” one of them called out, and the others grinned.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Stiles muttered quietly to Derek, before raising his voice to answer, “Nothing.”

“I heard that, Stilinski,” the guy said again, walking over and standing at the edge of the table between Stiles and Derek. “This is a cute little date you guys’ve got going on here, but it’s kinda irritating so I’m gonna have to ask you both to leave.”

Stiles glared at the guy’s face, and grit his teeth before standing up. “Derek, I can’t eat with him here, so let’s just go.”

Derek shook his head. “We’re still eating.”

The dick standing near them shook his head too. He turned to the boys sitting at the table still, “should we remove them, guys?” They all nodded eagerly.

Derek had heard enough. He was irritated beyond belief, not only because of this guy’s attitude, but because no one could talk to his Stiles that way. Derek, knowing exactly how much taller he was than this high schooler, stood up slowly. He deliberately straightened as tall as he could go, and he saw the younger man’s expression falter as he took in Derek’s size. “I don’t want to leave yet, so stop bothering us.”

Stiles nodded his head. “Jackson, you heard him. Get lost, dude.”

Derek sat back down, and was totally unprepared for the absolutely pure look of awe on Stiles’s face. He ignored Jackson, who was still standing awkwardly to the side of the table. Derek could smell the anger on him, but suddenly realized he smelled something else too.

He turned to Jackson quickly. “I don’t know what sort of dominance thing you think you’re doing, but I wouldn’t if I were you.” Derek flashed his eyes at Jackson, who stepped backwards and tripped into the waitress who was trying to walk past. She dropped her tray, and scowled at his retreating form. Derek bent down to help her clean up the broken plate shards. When it was clean enough, he sat back down with Stiles.

“What was that about?” Derek wondered aloud. “Werewolves around here don’t have problems with humans like this.”

Stiles shrugged in reply. “He wanted Scott to join his pack, I think. He’s acting like a jilted lover.”

Derek laughed, imagining the tan boy he’d seen earlier rejecting that prick. “I think you’re right.”

“Anyways, our order’s finally coming in. I’m so hungry,” Stiles moaned, causing Derek to laugh again.

They finally ate, and their conversation was easy. Jackson and his irritating pack members left sometime through the course of their dinner, so Derek was able to relax again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely know what I'm doing.  
> Derek and I have that in common. Thanks for reading!  
> Will update as soon as possibly can


	2. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you already showing me support for this!!!  
> I really appreciate it, and I'll try to update as frequently as possible!

"Ah, I feel so satisfied now," Stiles said, rubbing his belly for comedic effect. They had finished their meal together and talked for a few minutes before Stiles realized he had to get home soon. As Stiles was pulling out his wallet, Derek shook his head.

"Let me pay," he suggested, "after all, I'm the reason we stopped here."

"But I was the one who was starving," Stiles protested, holding out a few bills.

"Honestly, Stiles, it's fine."

He hesitated for a moment, but then after studying Derek's determined face for a moment, he slowly put away his wallet. "Fine, but you have to let me pay some other time, okay?"

Derek's heart wanted to jump out of his chest. Stiles actually said he would go somewhere else with him. That was enough to make him run around in circles like an actual dog. They walked out the door, and Derek unlocked his car. Stiles slid into the passenger seat like it was already second nature.

_Of course, you idiot, it's not like he's never gotten in a car before. It's natural for everyone._

Derek shook his head to get rid of the thought, and shut the driver side door behind him. "How do we get to your house from here?"

Stiles gave him directions, promising to give him plenty of time to slow for the turns. The silence was almost unbearable for Derek. He desperately wanted to hear Stiles's voice as much as he could in the short drive. Unfortunately, not much else was said before they reached the young boy's house.

"Seriously, dude, thank you for driving my grandmother and I. You saved us a lot of trouble," Stiles told Derek, as he pulled into the driveway.

"It was my pleasure," Derek had never said anything so honest in his life.

Derek waited for the inevitable, for Stiles to open the door and walk away from him for who knows how long. Before either of them could move, a porch light flickered on and Derek's stomach dropped. Out stepped Stiles's father, and he walked directly up to the black camaro as Derek realized he should probably get out and introduce himself. Derek also was suddenly self conscious, wondering if he looked okay enough to actually be meeting Stiles's dad. Obviously, it was too late for Derek to fix that anyways.

"Hey, dad," Stiles said, holding out the bag of diner food they had remembered to buy. His dad took it with a warm smile at both of them.

He gave Derek a once-over. "How's it going?" He asked kindly.

"Good," Derek replied, unsure of what else to say.

His dad finally stuck out a hand in welcome, which Derek shook hurriedly. "I'm obviously Stiles's dad, but you can call me John."

"Nice to meet you," Derek croaked, hoping he didn't sound too scared. He remembered the guns.

Stiles grinned easily at the both of them, not noticing Derek's momentary panic at all. He explained how Derek had met Genim, and how they all ended up riding home together in Derek's car.

"And then of course, you got hungry didn't you? I'll bet you forced Derek to stop and get something to eat, huh?" Sheriff Stilinski seemed amused by this.

"No, I wanted to stop just as badly. Neither of us had eaten yet," Derek explained, easing up finally.

Stiles's dad smiled at him again. Derek made a mental note that Stiles got his smile from his dad. "You've been so good to my family," John said. "Thank you."

"It really wasn't a big deal," Derek started, but was cut off by John raising a hand to stop him.

"You've got to let me repay you even if it's in a small way. So why don't you come to our tiny cookout this Saturday?"

Stiles immediately slapped a hand to his forehead, startling Derek. It made Derek worry for a moment, before the boy explained. "I meant to invite you to that myself. Good thinking dad."

Derek relaxed as soon as Stiles was done. "I'd love to, if it's not too much trouble."

"You're ridiculous; of course it's not too much. You helped us for no reason today. We owe you."

"Alright, well we're gonna let you hit the road. Sorry for keeping you so long," the sheriff said, stepping back and clutching the bag. Derek could tell he was hungry too.

"Nice meeting you," Derek replied, waving and getting back into the car. The two of them stood in the driveway until Derek had backed out, and driven away. If Derek would've been close enough, he would've heard John murmur quietly to Stiles that he liked that young man. Stiles only nodded.

\----

Friday morning, Derek woke up in a better mood than he ever thought possible. He was alone in his large apartment; Laura had stayed with Cora that night, rather than driving home alone so late at night.

She'd left a voicemail after he'd gone to sleep explaining that she'd be back Sunday morning bright and early and they'd spend the day together.

Derek had a perfectly uneventful morning, and around lunch time when he laid eyes on his phone again, anxiety settled in. They'd both traded numbers, right? Should he text first, or should he wait for Stiles to contact him, just to make sure the boy wasn't feeling stalked?

Derek was so caught up in his decisions that he almost didn't hear the phone vibrating on the coffee table. From his position on the couch, he couldn't read the caller ID on the screen, so he picked it up and was disappointed to read that it was only Laura sending a text to make sure he had gotten her message. He sent a quick reply, and set the phone down to watch TV again. Hours passed, as Derek tried to relax and just  _watch_ the show in front of him. But he was so incredibly bored.

Five minutes later it buzzed again, and this time Derek was less eager to read it. The moment he saw an unfamiliar name, his heart soared and Derek felt ridiculous for getting so excited so quickly. It wasn't saved as Stiles name yet, however. It was saved as some weird username... "redhoodiestilinski".

_**You're coming to the cookout, right?** _

His reply was so quick that Derek swore he could've broken records. **Yeah, if it's still alright.**

_**Of course it is** _

Derek grinned at his phone, feeling oddly giddy. He didn't even realize he was replying before he'd sent the next text. **Awesome. Should I bring anything?**

 _**J** _ _**ust yourself, I guess. We've got everything already, but thanks!** _

**Have you talked to your grandma since yesterday** **?** Derek asked, trying to keep them both communicating.

**_Yeah, and let me tell you, she's super mad at me for not texting you sooner. I think she'd going to try and adopt you..._ **

**I don't know that my mom would be too happy, but let your grandma know I'm open for negotiations**

Derek could almost hear the laughter in Stiles's voice as he replied, and their useless banter went on for a while longer before Stiles had to help his dad with some stuff in the yard. When he stopped responding, Derek put down his phone and decided to watch TV yet again. Today was a lazy day for Derek, which was pretty rare because of his busy work schedule. Since his mother was the owner of her own company, he was somehow roped into doing random jobs for his mother all the time. It eventually morphed into an almost full time job. Not that Derek was complaining; he could take off time whenever he wanted and he got paid to help out his family. It was a win as far as he was concerned.

Before long, he realized he wasn't even paying attention. He was only daydreaming about a certain pair of brown eyes and pale skin. Up close, Derek had noticed all the moles and freckles dotting Stiles's skin. He thought about what it would feel like to run his hands over Stiles's arms and back. He could imagine the way it would feel, and before long he was picturing Stiles sitting beside him and running his own hands along Derek's own body.

He snapped back to reality as someone on the TV screamed loudly. Derek shook his head and decided to take a nap instead of trying to force himself to keep watching whatever was on. As soon as he got into bed, Derek daydreamed again. He couldn't get that stupidly wild hair out of his mind as he lay there trying to drift off. He was picturing Stiles's face again, when he began to think a little too intensely about Stiles's lips. They were always so full and pink, since he was always biting them. Derek had an intense desire to feel lose lips for himself. The more he thought about it, the hotter the room became until Derek realized he was burning up.

He took off his shirt and relaxed back into bed. His own fingers on his bare skin made him think about Stiles's pale hands. Derek ran an absent-minded hand across his stomach, and goosebumps covered him as he thought about Stiles doing the same to him. Suddenly Derek felt an uncomfortable tightness all over, and when he pulled back the covers he saw the unfortunate tent in his pants. As if someone was watching, Derek blushed harder than he had in awhile. He was embarrassed to be thinking about the younger man, but couldn't help himself. He did his best to ignore the pressing feel of the erection against the covers.

He turned over in his bed and desperately tried to sleep. He couldn't. With a sigh and unbelievable willingness, Derek had his pants down around his ankles and was jerking off to Stiles's face alone in an instant. His quiet room was soon filled with Derek's quiet gasps and moans. The more he thought of Stiles, the harder it was to slow down. He could picture exactly how Stiles would look in front of him in the bed, and Derek came embarrassingly fast. He wiped himself down quickly and rolled onto the opposite side of the bed quickly. Before long, he was able to drift off.

His dreams didn't offer him much relief from his Stiles problem.

He was startled awake by his phone ringing beside his head. He narrowed his eyes in the harsh light from his phone and realized it was almost 7pm already. He'd slept for almost four hours without meaning to. When he saw Stiles's name pop up once again on the caller ID, he answered without hesitation.

"Hello?" he said blearily.

"Oh-Hey, Derek. I didn't wake you or anything right?" Derek could hear something off in Stiles's voice, and he sat up immediately to wake up quicker.

"No, no, I was just reading. What's up?"

"Oh, uh," Stiles paused, "I'm not totally sure why I called you. Sorry."

"No worries, you can call whenever," Derek said. He nearly slapped himself for saying something so painfully obvious. He wanted Stiles to call him anytime he felt like it.

"Oh, that's good to know," Stiles said quickly.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Derek asked, settling back against the headboard and switching the phone to the other ear.

"Well, it's just that my dad went out a while ago to get some dinner with Scott's mom, and he'll be out for a while probably."

Derek didn't know where this conversation was heading. "Are you okay there by yourself?"

Stiles hesitated again. "I know this might sound weird, but I have this funny feeling, you know? Normally I would've called Scott to convince me it was crazy, but he's busy tonight."

"I'm sure you have a valid reason for feeling something strange," Derek said, attempting to reassure Stiles. He realized he was failing when Stiles was quiet on the other end. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

"No, I couldn't ask you to do anything more," Stiles replied hastily. "I'm probably just anxious because of the dogs down the street. They're always barking at stupid things and tonight they're not barking, which is strange. Around this time their owner lets them out for the night, and just lets them bark and bark as much as they want. But tonight they aren't. It's weird. Sorry, I'm babbling again."

"Stiles, do you want me to keep you company?" Derek blurted out, without thinking. He immediately regretted it as soon as Stiles was quiet again.

"Don't feel pressured, I'm fine here if you can't," Stiles said, making Derek worry even more.

"Alright, I'll be over soon but give me time to eat something first, alright?" Derek couldn't believe an idea so stupid, yet so smart at the same time had rushed out of his mouth like that. He felt betrayed by his own mind. He'd be lucky to get away from this night with minimal damage. He didn't want to scare Stiles away, but he wanted to be close to him for the obvious reasons. The boy had him incredibly whipped and he didn't even realize it.

"Derek, you're the best," Stiles told him, not realizing the impact it made on the lovesick werewolf. Derek felt his face flush, and the familiar racing of his pulse that he'd began to associate with Stiles.

"I'll see you soon," was all he managed to choke out before he hung up the phone.

He scarfed down an extremely small bowl of cereal before hopping into his car. He almost forgot to lock the door to his apartment before he had gotten in the car and driven down the empty road from his house to the main road. Derek had to admit, the night was feeling a bit ominous with the almost full moon casting a foggy light on the trees. It truly was eerie.

Before long, he had arrived at Stiles's house and practically jumped out of his car. He had to force himself to walk casually up the sidewalk. When the door opened before he had even reached the porch, Derek was suddenly glad he had found time to shower earlier in the day. Stiles smelled even better than he had the first time they'd met, if at all possible. His hair was wet from a recent shower, and Derek was happy to see him dressed extremely casual in pajamas pants and a star wars T-shirt.

Stiles knew that Derek hadn't meant to offend him, and was clearly okay with it. Derek sat in a chair next to the sofa, and turned his attention to the TV.

"What're you watching?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"I was watching some lame programmed show, but I was planning on picking a movie we could both watch if that's okay."

"Perfect," Derek replied.

"Uh, you know I won't bite," Stiles said, startling Derek slightly.

"What?" Derek asked cautiously.

"You can sit on the couch with me. It's way more comfortable."

Derek hesitated, knowing it wouldn't be Stiles who would be doing the biting. Almost immediately his thoughts were filled with the image of Stiles biting and licking his way down Derek's chest, all the way down to his happy trail. He could feel the response between his thighs as he thought about this, and immediately tried to forget what he was thinking of. He looked around the room for anything at all that he could cover his lap with, and spotted a blanket just behind Stiles's head on the couch. Without thinking, (because Derek tends to not think often around Stiles) he moved to stand in front of Stiles, and reached behind his head and pulled the blanket past the younger boy. He regretted the close proximity the second he realized it was doing nothing for his current predicament.

Derek practically launched himself at the couch and landed not too far away from Stiles. He covered his lap with the blanket and made sure that nothing was too obvious. He'd had for Stiles to notice his hard-on and make assumptions about Derek's intentions for the night. He was only trying to make the boy feel at ease. Derek wasn't even interested in Stiles that way, right? It was purely a physical thing that Derek knew he'd get over with a little time.

Stiles was staring off into the TV as if nothing had happened. He had a slightly dazed expression, and he seemed to shrink on the couch as he drew his legs close to his chest.

"You alright?" Derek asked, concern eating away at him.  _Did he notice? Have I upset him?_

"I'm feeling it again," Stiles told him, without meeting his gaze. "That awful feeling. Something's strange..." He trailed off, thinking hard.

"Let's just focus on a movie, and if you're still feeling it after a while then I'll go investigate outside, okay?"

Stiles nodded, and awarded Derek a smile that somehow didn't seem as bright. Derek's new motive was to bring back that happy smile he'd grown accustomed to seeing in such a short time. Without any further problems, they were able to decide on a movie. Stiles was absolutely aghast that Derek had never seen the Rocky movies.

"You've never seen  _any_ of them?" He cried, nearly springing from the couch. He had risen up and was basically crouching on the edge of the couch in excitement. "I used to watch these with my dad when I was a kid. I'll never know why it was my favorite." He laughed again.

"Alright, alright," Derek said with mock annoyance. "I know I'm movie deprived, but it's not that bad."

"No way dude, you're totally watching this movie."

Before long it was playing on the screen in front of them. Derek was hardly able to concentrate because of how hard Stiles was concentrating. Stiles had (probably unknowingly) scooted closer to Derek on the couch, and it was driving the older man absolutely insane. Stiles's scent had only grown stronger since Derek had walked in the door, and it was hard for Derek to ignore. By now, his hard on had finally gone away and Derek was in no way ready for that kind of embarrassment anymore. He wanted to plug his nose if it would help him forget about it.

Suddenly Derek had an idea. "Food?" he asked simply, causing Stiles to look away from the movie at last.

"Yeah, totally. You want popcorn?" 

Derek nodded his head as Stiles left the couch to go make it. He could finally breathe without worrying if he'd get another intoxicating whiff of Stiles. In Derek's mind, popcorn would be the perfect thing to distract him for a while. The smell of popcorn, just as Derek thought, soon filled the room. He'd be able to ignore his current predicament.

What Derek didn't account for, however, was how quickly Stiles would eat his. Stiles was like a mindless zombie watching Rocky. It was like his hand just kept grabbing more popcorn without him even needing to process the fact that he was eating. After about ten minutes of watching this, Derek couldn't take it any more and belted out a laugh that startled Stiles out of his reverie.

"What?" he asked, when Derek could speak again.

"You're like a zombie," he said, causing himself to laugh again.

Stiles immediately pouted, looking almost hurt. "Don't make fun, I just really do love these movies..."

Derek realized he may have hurt Stiles's feelings. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder gently. "It's just that I've never seen anyone get into something so wholeheartedly. I admire that."

Stiles grinned, and Derek was suddenly acutely aware of how close on the couch they had become, and how normal it all felt. He pulled his hand away from Stile's shoulder quietly, and rubbed his face with both hands to hide the flush of his cheeks. His heart was racing, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Derek, your eyes are glowing," Stiles said, watching him intently. His face came closer as the boy studied the color of his eyes. "I'll never get tired of seeing werewolf eyes."

 _Don't come closer,_ Derek silently pleaded. He didn't know why this was so hard for him. It has never been this hard to control himself. Werewolves didn't act this way.

Stiles was too close. Derek couldn't get any air without breathing in Stiles's scent. He closed his eyes quickly, trying to block everything out and calm himself. In protest, Stiles lifted his hand and cupped it to Derek's cheek.

"Aw, come on, they're really cool. Let me see?"

The boy had no idea what he was doing to Derek right now.

Derek refused to open his eyes, and the presence of Stiles's hands on his cheek was the last straw. Derek leaned forward as slowly as he could and pressed his face to the boy's shoulder. He allowed himself one heavy sniff before he was about to pull back. Before he moved, Stiles put a hand on the back of his head, holding Derek. The werewolf froze, unable to comprehend what was happening to them. He didn't want to get the wrong idea, but Derek couldn't force himself to move away. Stiles wasn't fighting him, either. They both sat there for what seemed like ages. When Derek finally moved, Stiles's hand fell beside them, still on Derek's arm. Their closeness was unbearable for Derek. He looked up to meet Stiles's gaze. But the moment they looked at each other, the sound of a key entering the lock startled them both.

They jumped apart and were leaning on the opposite arms of the couch blushing profusely as Sheriff Stilinski walked through the door.

"Stiles? I'm back," he called, unaware that his son was still awake.

"In here," Stiles croaked, and then attempted to clear his throat to sound more normal. John walked into the living room, and as surprised as he was to find that Stiles was still awake, he was more surprised to find Derek Hale in his house.

"Ah, hello," Derek said awkwardly.

"Hello. I wasn't aware you were coming over, Derek," the sheriff said, not unkindly. 

Stiles looked abashed. "I completely forgot to text and tell you, I'm sorry!"

"No worries," John said. He turned his gaze to his son. "It's okay, but from now on you've gotta tell me when you're having people over and I'm not here."

"Of course," Stiles responded, nodding fiercely.

"I probably should head out anyways," Derek said finally, after an awkward silence.

The sheriff held up his hands to stop him. "It's pretty late, isn't it? Are you sure you want to drive all the way home?"

"I've done it plenty," Derek said, and then grimacing when he realized how that sounded. "Driving home from anywhere, I mean, this late."

"I'm sure you have, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a young guy like you going out so late, especially with all the wolf issues we've been having," he stated. John seemed lost in thought for a moment, completely unaware of the two boys reacting to what he just said.

"Wolf issues?" Stiles inquired slowly, giving Derek a quick glance to make sure Derek was aware that John didn't know anything about the werewolves in town.

"Yeah, apparently a new pack of 'em have moved close by and are terrorizing the wildlife. The station's trying to determine what to do with them right now."

Derek glanced outside, wondering if that was the cause of the ominous presence he and Stiles had been feeling. It would make sense.

John continued speaking, despite their unusual silence. "So anyways, Derek, you're welcome to spend the night here since I don't want you out this late."

"With all due respect sir, I'm not really prepared to stay the night. And it's only about eleven, so I should be okay driving." Derek really didn't know what to do. He assessed Stiles's reaction to the situation, and it didn't seem to be a good one. The boy had curled back up on the couch, and was watching Derek as well. But he wouldn't meet the wolf's inquiring gaze.

"Nonsense," the sheriff said, at the same time Stiles moved to speak.

"He's right," Stiles said simply, shrugging. "You can borrow my stuff for the night, and then go home and do whatever it is you want until the cookout, if you don't want to stay here all day."

Derek saw no other choice. They were basically backing him into a corner to stay... not that he didn't want to. They explained how their guest bed had been taken out so that they could paint the room, and so he could have the couch if he wouldn't be woken up by Stiles's dad leaving in the morning. Stiles shook his head and offered that Derek sleep in his room instead.

"I can't take your room, idiot," Derek said, once the Sheriff had gone upstairs. He left them to decide the sleeping arrangements. "I'll take the couch."

"The couch is the absolute worst for sleeping on the entire night, trust me."

"Then why the hell would I let you sleep there?" Derek answered, laughing a little. Stiles shrugged and made a vague motion in the air.

"I guess we both sleep in my room then?" The werewolf immediately knew that there was no way he could sleep in the same bed as Stiles and make it through the night. It'd be an absolute nightmare. He'd make a mistake if they were that close together, and he shook his head. 

"I'll sleep on the floor. Just let me take the cushions from the couch and I'll be perfect."

Stiles smiled warmly at Derek, completely different from the anxious state he was in when Derek arrived. Not soon after, they had arranged a small, slightly comfortable stack of pillows and blankets for Derek's "bed" on the floor. Derek looked down at his clothes and rubbed an embarrassed hand through his hair. 

"Do you have anything I could sleep in?" He asked, as if Stiles would recognize the reason Derek really asked. Derek tried not to act so guilty.

"Duh," Stiles said. "Although some of it might be too small..." He trailed off as he began to dig through a draw of sleep clothes. "Ah... actually all of my shirts are gonna be too small. But I've got lots of sweatpants that'll fit you, if you want them."

Derek nodded his head, although slightly disappointed. He knew it was probably for the best not to wear something that smelled so strongly of Stiles, especially when they would be sleeping so close together. Stiles went into the bathroom first, mostly to give Derek time to change into the pants. Derek pulled at the tight neck of the shirt he was wearing, and wondered if it would be too weird to take it off. When the boy came back out, he motioned that Derek could use the bathroom now.

"I got out a new toothbrush for you, and left it on the counter. You can just use my toothpaste, but let me know if you need anything else, okay?" Derek nodded in reply and then shut the bathroom door.

Everything in the bathroom was neat and clean, and Derek couldn't help but take everything in. He simply wanted to see how Stiles lived. He brushed his teeth as quickly as he could, and then went back out into the room. Stiles had already pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. The sight of him there, so comfortable under the covers made Derek's heart ache. He longed to crawl in with Stiles, and just wrap his arms around the boy and hold him tight. But he knew he couldn't, so he threw himself onto the little pallet on the floor and tried to get comfortable.

Derek remembered his previous activities at home with the image of Stiles in his mind, and was extremely worried that the boy would catch on. He didn't want to think about how he had masturbated to his imagination of Stiles. That's all it was,  _imagination._ He needed to forget about that version of Stiles as quickly as possible before it did any real damage to the relationship he had with the real Stiles in front of him.

"You sure you're alright down there?" Stiles asked hesitantly from the bed. In reality, they weren't that far apart. For Derek, it felt like miles. That's what he needed if he wanted to stay in control tonight.

"I'm perfectly fine, so try and get some sleep, okay?" The last thing he wanted was for Stiles to worry about  Derek's comfort.

Stiles turned out the light, and Derek listened to him restlessly move around on the mattress before finally settling down. There was a long silence as Derek forced himself to close his eyes and try to forget that he was alone, in a bedroom with a young man he very much wanted to attach himself to.

"Derek?" Stiles asked quietly, as if checking to see if he was still awake.

The wolf grunted in reply. 

"I'm really glad you came," he said, almost to himself. "It really made me feel much safer."

"I'm glad," Derek said finally.

"Thanks...again." 

"Anytime," Derek replied, and he meant it wholeheartedly. They didn't need to say goodnight, as they were both content enough for the night.

 

\------------

Even though Derek initially thought he'd sleep terribly, he slept soundly through the night. He barely even heard Stiles tiptoeing around him in the morning, going in the bathroom and then outside the room to the living room. Stiles's head was clouded with thoughts, and he sat on the couch for a while trying to think. Sometime through the night, Derek had gotten hot apparently, and without realizing it had taken off his shirt. When Stiles woke in the morning to find the extremely attractive, half naked man on his floor, he was so shocked he almost didn't realize that it actually made sense. Stiles had sat in bed, just observing Derek sleeping peacefully, not even a trace of a scowl on his face. 

Actually, when Stiles had first seen Derek, his first thought was how attractive a man that was, if only he didn't have such a mean appearance. You can imagine his shock when his sweet, elderly grandmother called out to this man as if she'd known him forever. A smile had crept into Derek's features, and taken Stiles by surprise. He hadn't expected such pleasant looks to come from such a serious looking guy. He was proved even more wrong as he got to know Derek. The more time they spent together, the more confused Stiles got. He didn't understand how he had thought Derek could've possibly been at all scary or mean.

They guy was fucking amazing, in Stiles's view. All he ever did was genuinely worry for other people. That's why he came to make sure I was alright, and then the poor guy got roped into staying here overnight. Stiles was thinking about how desperate the man probably was to get home. Stiles, distressed by that thought, got up and wandered into the kitchen to think about breakfast.

His dad had already left in the morning, but left Stiles a note telling him to make breakfast for the two of them, and that he'd be back early today for the cookout.

Stiles cooked simple scrambled eggs and fried some leftover bacon from the fridge. The smell woke Derek before long, and he came lumbering into the kitchen like a tired bear. He rubbed sleep from his eyes, and yawned several times. Stiles was trying to give him time to wake up, but he couldn't take it anymore.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked, trying to conceal his worry.

"Better than I have in ages," Derek replied honestly. "I wonder what made me so tired..." Derek looked around the room, as if trying to collect his thoughts.

"That's good to hear," Stiles said, sighing in relief. "But next time I swear you can sleep in my bed. I was scared you weren't gonna get any sleep on the floor."

"Yeah," was all Derek offered, and Stiles felt his face droop. He turned away from Derek and back to the eggs. He didn't notice Derek's own distress as they both wondered what exactly they had said wrong.

When the eggs were done, Stiles picked up the frying pan and switched the stove off. He turned a tiny amount towards Derek."I only meant-"

"I'd love to-" Derek said, accidentally starting to talk at the same time. They both waited in awkward silence until they realized neither of them were going to speak. Derek's face broke into a grin, and soon it infected Stiles as well, and they both laughed away the awkwardness.

"Anyways," Derek said, "I'll hold you to that. Sleeping on the floor sometimes gives me a crick in my neck."

Stiles's heart throbbed embarrassingly, and the boy suddenly became aware of the werewolf ability to hear pulses. He served the eggs and then quickly excused himself to the bathroom. When the door shut firmly behind him, he covered his mouth with a hand and stared hard into the mirror.

 _What are you doing, idiot?_  Stiles thought. _Derek's three years older, and you're just a senior in high school. Stop jumping to conclusions and calm the fuck down._

When he had calmed down enough to go back into the kitchen, Derek was about to say something. Before he could speak, the phone rang and the caller ID announced the sheriff's name. Derek shook his head and nodded to the phone.

"Hello?" Stiles said into the phone, as he watched Derek continue to eat the food he'd made. "Hey dad."

Derek looked up in time to see Stiles's face freeze in a look he couldn't identify. Derek set his fork down as delicately as he could and watched Stiles intently. He didn't care about anything other than understanding what was happening. He couldn't even understand the odd emotion that was rolling off of him. Stiles mouthed, "listen", and motioned to the phone, so Derek focused on listening to the sheriff's voice coming through the phone.

 **_"-been a recent incident involving our neighborhood. Remember those awful dogs that bark just about every hour of the night? Their owner found them in the morning, appearing to have been mauled by some kind of animal. W_ ** **_e're not exactly certain it was the wolves yet, but I just wanted to call and let you know about this."_ **

"Ah," was all Stiles could manage to say. He had gone incredibly pale. Derek placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, which he leaned into. Derek almost couldn't even be happy with the way Stiles accepted his touch so easily. He was too concerned with the boy.

**_"So, Stiles, I want you to be extra careful about going outside today. If it all possible, don't leave the house until we know exactly what killed these dogs. It's just a precaution."_ **

"Of course, thanks dad." 

**_"You and Derek be safe now, okay?"_ **

"Of course," Stiles repeated. "See you later." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Stiles raised a shaky glance to meet Derek's eyes.

"Well, I'm definitely not leaving you home alone now," Derek said. "I hope you're okay with that."

Stiles nodded his head, and almost immediately Derek was relieved to see the boy relax as he realized he wouldn't have to be alone. Derek didn't know why Stiles would react so strongly to a random wolf attack, even if it was a were. He wasn't sure if it would be alright to ask, so he decided to tread as carefully as possible.

"Do you think it was that dick... what's his name... Jackson? Maybe trying to scare you?"

Stiles shook his head. "I think I know exactly what it was, and it's not gonna be good if he's still hanging around."

Derek did  _not_ like the sound of that. It sounded way too obvious that Stiles knew what was going on, and it made every instinct in Derek's body want to go into full alert mode. He was bristling to move, do something-  _anything-_ if it would reassure Stiles that he wouldn't let anything happen.

But first, he needed to understand what was happening to cause this kind of reaction in his boy.

"Will you tell me about it?" Derek asked finally, moving his hand from Stiles's shoulder to grip the boy's arm firmly.

Stiles nodded, and touched his hand to where Derek's rested on his arm.

"I guess..."

"We've got time," Derek said smoothly, to avoid pressuring the boy. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Stiles liked the sound of that. He truly didn't feel pressured to tell Derek anything. "I'll tell you the basics."

"That's enough for me," Derek replied, nodding. "We've got time." 

Those words were strangely comforting to Stiles. He allowed himself to fancy that Derek meant what he said, and that'd he'd be around when Stiles wanted his help. He also didn't want Derek to hang around because he thought Stiles was going to go insane if he didn't. He wanted to know Derek would be there because he wanted to be.

 


	3. Burgers... and Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles tells Derek a bit of his past, and of course, the cookout happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of information in this chapter, but it's worth slowing down a bit to read :)

"Alright," Stiles said warily. They had already finished breakfast by the time Stiles was ready to start talking. Derek was trying to be patient, but it was extremely hard when he was desperate to know what was making Stiles so anxious all of a sudden.

"Take your time," Derek said simply. Stiles nodded in reply.

"Can we do this in the living room? It'll be more comfortable," Stiles asked, motioning towards the tall chairs they were sitting in next to the kitchen table. This time, Derek nodded and led the way into the living room where he settled into the couch. He had to struggle not to focus on the memory of the last time they were together on that couch. He had a mission, and he didn't want to be distracted.

But on the other hand, this wasn't just business for the werewolf. He wanted to be able to help Stiles with whatever problem was facing him.

"Okay," Stiles said finally. Although he was ready to explain, he wasn't sure where to start. Derek waited patiently until Stiles had gathered what exactly he was going to say.

"Well, as you know, my dad called about that apparent wolf attack."

Derek nodded. "We haven't had anything this close by for a while."

Stiles met Derek's gaze, and held it. "We haven't, that's right. The last time would be a bit after I broke up with the last guy I was seeing."

Derek's felt himself stiffen, but couldn't do anything to relax. He was left just waiting to hear whatever Stiles said next.

"Well, that guy was a werewolf, in case you couldn't tell yet. He and I were actually pretty close for a long time. I fell pretty hard for him in the beginning. He was always so perfect around me- I guess that's why I should've known- but I just didn't care at the time."

Derek's throat was closing up the more he pictured someone being close and intimate with Stiles. 

 _Focus,_ he thought to himself.  _This is about Stiles, not your petty "feelings"._

"Anyways, I didn't see any of this coming. I just noticed how possessive he started becoming. It was like, any time I tried to talk to any guy other than him, he'd just blow up in my face about how I didn't really love him. Sometimes he'd get so upset that he'd break things to scare me. And it did, I guess, because I stayed. I was so sure that if I just kept convincing him that I loved him, that he'd understand it and go back to the way it was."

Stiles was getting anxious now, Derek could tell. He could see it in the worried way Stiles was biting his lip. His hands were shaking in the tiniest tremors that were almost difficult for Derek to notice. This time, totally intentional, Derek reached out to Stiles slowly and pressed a hand onto his forearm. 

"It's fine," Derek said, "you can stop whenever you don't want to talk anymore." He removed his hand slowly, trying to ignore the warmth still lingering on his palm.

Stiles shook his head vigorously. "I want to tell you this." The boy looked almost embarrassed to have spoken. Derek wanted to reach out to him again, but decided against it.

"Okay then," Derek replied quietly.

"I really did love him, at first," Stiles said quietly almost to himself. But this time, louder, "But Scott made me realize that he wasn't good for me anymore. And then I realized that it was okay for me to not like the person he'd changed into.

But it was like Theo knew. He just somehow knew before I'd even had a chance to pull him aside and tell him myself. I had it all planned out too. I was gonna explain that I did love him, and I was going to do it in the nicest way possible but he blew a fuse. He was wolfed-out and went completely psycho. I barely even remember what he was saying because I was so scared-"

Derek cut him off with a sudden growl that erupted from his chest. Derek grabbed at his neck and covered his mouth, and gave Stiles and apologetic look. "Sorry- I just- no one should deal with that. Especially not you."

"Thanks," Stiles said, actually sort-of smiling at Derek again. Actually, he was beginning to calm down the more support Derek showed him. The boy ran a quick hand through his wild hair, suddenly distressed. "I didn't mean to tell you his name."

"I won't tell anyone," Derek promised. "Besides, I don't even know who he is."  _If I did, I'd most likely kill him._

"But I don't know what would've happened if Scott hadn't shown up with their alpha. They witnessed just about the entire scene."

"They didn't intervene?" Derek said, aghast.

"Well, their alpha didn't want to act unless he had solid proof that Theo was a problem. It was too risky because a lot of the people in the pack liked Theo. He was a cool guy, honest, and he flirted with just about everyone."

"It was okay for him to flirt, but not you?" Derek stated, angrily.

"Well, I don't think he even noticed when he did it. But I don't do that. The whole flirting while you're in a relationship, it's dumb shit that I'd never do. I don't get why he didn't know that." Stiles almost looked angry too, but he quickly relaxed and kept speaking.

"So, Scott's alpha ran Theo out of town. He tried to come back... a lot. But every time he tried he'd end up lashing out at someone. He was so manipulative... He kept getting let back into town until the alpha had enough. Theo fled, but he didn't leave happy. He attacked anything that he crossed paths with on the way out. Every single thing he killed, he'd leave that awful spiral on."

 _The revenge spiral._ Both of them were thinking it, but neither said it aloud.

"Why did Scott leave that pack?" Derek asked, suddenly confused. "He was on the good side of that alpha, obviously..."

"That's just it; like I said, lots of people liked Theo. Therefore, lots of people didn't like Scott for calling him out on the shit that he put me and others through."

Derek was beginning to like Scott more and more as he heard about him. He was extremely thankful someone was looking out for Stiles before Derek met him. Because of course, he had every intention of looking out for Stiles now.

"The old alpha died-" Stiles continued, "and someone who loved Theo took over. Scott didn't have a choice, so he and his mom moved to Beacon Hills. Their old town was about a two hour drive just so you know."

Derek understood now. Scott had literally given up his own pack to make sure that Stiles could get away from this guy's-Theo's- insanity. He was amazed. Someone like that was extremely worthy of being in any pack he desired. His old pack didn't realized what they had lost. Derek decided to say the same to Stiles.

"I love Scott for that," Stiles responded happily. Derek's face tightened immediately, and just as quickly Stiles realized what he had said. "As a best friend, obviously. I'll never find another friend that I love so much again."

"Yeah," was all Derek could say. He'd never experienced a change of emotions so quickly before. In less than two minutes he had been utterly depressed and then relieved happiness had taken over.

"Now you know," Stiles stated, nodding once. "I'm glad you know."

Derek watched Stiles until the boy met his gaze, and then Derek said, solemnly, "I'm glad you were okay to tell me."

When Stiles processed what he had said, he covered his mouth without warning. He shut his eyes too, and Derek was extremely confused. Stiles just shook his head, but when he opened his eyes and saw Derek's half somber, half confused face, he burst out laughing.

"What?" Derek cried, raising his arms. Stiles was just leaning back against the couch's arm, trying to stop laughing. Derek had a perfect moment of sight while Stiles was having his fit of laughter. The younger man looked so happy and completely at ease. Totally different than they were at the beginning of the conversation. Derek wanted to make him look like that every second they were together.

"You just..." Stiles breathed out, trying to regain his breath, "you were just so serious I couldn't take it. I've never seen such a serious expression before..."

Derek immediately blushed and covered his entire face with his hands. Stiles laughed again, clearly enjoying Derek's embarrassment.

"I was trying to-" Derek couldn't explain himself very well. "I was worried you would think I didn't really care if I said something wrong."

They were beginning to calm down, and Stiles looked back up at Derek. "I wouldn't assume anything."

Derek was glad. He really did believe Stiles... he trusted him almost completely. 

"Oh, shit," Stiles muttered. "It's already eleven."

Derek was confused. "Do you have to be somewhere?"

"No, dummy, we have to set up some of the stuff for the cookout, remember?"

Derek remembered. He also had a brilliant idea. "Wait, you told me Scott was still looking for a pack, right?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with my cookout?"

"Well, if the cookout doesn't start until later, and if it's alright with you, then I can check and see if any of my packmates can come meet Scott. They don't have to stay long or anything," Derek was still trying to explain when Stiles jumped in excitedly. 

"You'd consider letting Scott into the Hale pack?"

"It's not up to me, but I'd definitely vouch for him after what you've told me about him. I'm sure they'd like him too so it shouldn't be hard..."

"You're the best," Stiles said, completely unaware yet again of the effects those simple words had on Derek's heart. "Can you get them here so last minute?"

"I'll make some calls and see." Derek gave his word. "Scott's already coming, right? So even if only one of them comes it'll be enough."

Derek was watching him intently during this conversation, only now he realized Stiles was in a completely different mood than before. To Derek, it seemed like he was actually moving on from what he had gone through with Theo. There was also the slight worry that he was hiding it, but a few moments of Derek listening to his heartbeat made him think otherwise. Stiles seemed to be okay.

Before he forgot, Derek made those promised calls to his packmates. He had to pull several favors to get them to agree on such short notice, but he had three definite yes's on coming.

They sat on the couch so casually together that they nearly forgot setting up for the cookout again. Stiles checked the kitchen to make sure they had everything that they needed, and Derek helped to move everything onto the back deck that was to go outside. It wasn't much, but Stiles was a worrier and wanted to get as much done as possible. The back yard was fenced in, and so they were content just sitting there talking and observing whatever was there, despite the freezing temperatures. At one point, a little brown bird landed on the bird bath a few feet from Derek, and Stiles watched, amused, as Derek tried not to startle it. Eventually though, they had to move back inside because Stiles was getting too cold.

"Werewolf heat," Derek reminded him, after he asked "why the hell" Derek wasn't cold. Stiles had grinned in reply.

Time passed even quicker for them after the heavier conversation had finished. Neither of them wanted to ruin the good mood, so they did whatever they felt like doing until the Sheriff came home. Mostly, they just watched TV and talked, even though all Derek wanted to do was drag Stiles closer to him and hold him there. He could imagine the warmth, the smell, and everything Stiles-related that would be happening.

Stiles merely wanted to throw himself on top of Derek and refuse to move no matter how uncomfortable the werewolf got. But he refrained, because of how important Derek's company was to him. He didn't want to ruin this.

Neither of them wanted to ruin it. They were content enough for the moment.

When John came home, he was totally unsurprised that Derek was _still_ there. He didn't even say anything to the boys, just asked how their day was and if they had done what needed to be done for the cookout. The three of them enjoyed each other's company until around 5 when the first guest showed up.

The doorbell rang, immediately reviving Stiles's excited mood. "I bet that's Scott and his mom. They're always early.  _For everything."_

John laughed. "You're probably right. But go get the door, before they freeze. It's gotten colder out."

Derek was almost immediately nervous. He hadn't realized that he would actually have to make a good impression on Scott. He had underestimated just how close he and Stiles were. He could feel the usual self-conscious knot in his throat that made it hard to swallow. He was unsure of whether he should follow Stiles to the door or not. He looked helplessly around the room, trying not to look as nervous as he felt.

"Derek," Stiles said, jolting him out of the stupor, "come with me to meet Scott. You guys'll get along I promise."

Derek nodded his head once, and got up to follow Stiles. 

As soon as the door opened, and excited puppy-er, boy- jumped through the doorway yelling, "STILES!" An exhausted looking woman walked in after him, shaking her head apologetically.

"You've been apart for, what, 48 hours and you're that excited to see him?" she asked, slightly amused. "I wonder if Allison feels that welcomed."

The boy, obviously Scott, looked sheepish. He almost opened his mouth to protest before she noticed Derek standing awkwardly behind Stiles.

"Hello," she extended a hand past Stiles, "I'm Melissa, and this is my son, Scott."

Derek shook her hand gently, smiling as normally as he could. It probably came out looking something close to an awkward curve of his mouth rather than a smile, but Derek was relieved he could even speak. "Derek Hale. Nice to meet you."

" _You're_ Derek Hale?" Scott said in awe. "Awesome! Nice to meet you." Both mother and son had such similar smiles, that it was painfully obvious to Derek how close they were. It made him realize he hadn't seen his own mother in a while. She was busy most of the time, and lived a city over.

Stiles grinned and led the way back into the kitchen where his dad was getting together the meat to be grilled. "Hey, Melissa," John said without looking up. "Would you grab those hot dogs and follow me to the grill?"

"Sure thing," she replied, already moving to help.

Scott hadn't said anything else, but Derek wondered how he could've possibly already had a good impression of Derek. Not that he was complaining. Stiles plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs and motioned for the two wolves behind him to sit as well.

"So, Scott," he pointed to the boy, "Derek," then pointed at Derek. "Now you officially have met."

"I've heard a ton about you," Scott said, grinning charmingly.

Derek was about to ask where he'd heard about him, when Stiles hissed a nervous, "Scott," and the tan boy's mouth snapped shut.

The corner of Derek's mouth turned up for a moment, thinking possibly that Stiles had told someone about Derek. But then, the older wolf realized he didn't know if Scott knew that he'd been staying with Stiles or not. He decided to keep quiet in case Stiles would be embarrassed by it. There was a few beats of an awkward silence before Scott and Stiles started a whirlwind of a conversation that left Derek feeling somewhat behind. He wasn't upset by this though, just a little confused. They were talking _really_ fast.

"Yeah, Allison's good," Scott said, shrugging slightly. "Just different. She's been going back and forth to France so often now for her modeling..." He trailed off indifferently.

"That's alright dude, I'm sure she misses you," Stiles responded. He looked at Derek now. "Sorry about that, we were just catching up really quick."

"It's fine," Derek responded, "I'm just getting hungry."

"Ah, me too," Scott moaned. "Hopefully everyone gets here soon so we can eat."

Stiles nodded. "My dad got the good meat this time, not that crappy cheap stuff."

"By the way," Derek asked suddenly, "who else is coming besides my packmates?"

"Just Scott and his mom, a friend of ours named Lydia, and possibly our neighbor Greenberg, that's all."

"Genim's not coming?" Derek asked, sort of surprised.

"She didn't really want to drive into town just for the night. But I bet if we had told her you were here she'd have definitely come."

Derek almost blushed. He didn't know why Stiles's grandmother had taken such a liking to him. All he'd done was help her out a bit, and most of it was because he was so interested in Stiles. Though, not to sell himself short, he had helped her at first without realizing she was related to Stiles at all. Plus, he really did enjoy her company too.

Scott immediately got excited. "So, Stiles told me that you invited your packmates for me, and I just wanna say thank you dude. I won't disappoint I swear."

"It's not an interview," Derek chuckled, waving a hand. "They're really not hard to get to know so don't worry."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door that left the three of them wondering who it'd be this time. Stiles grinned strangely, making Derek do a double-take. He hadn't seen that particular look on his face before.

"That's probably Lydia," Scott said, as Stiles got up to get the door. "Stiles's always had this... _thing_ about her. It's like he worships her." Scott laughed, almost overlooking Derek's sudden uneasiness.

Derek was quiet, and they listened to the sounds of Stiles opening the door and greeting whoever this girl was. Derek's lips were being pressed together into a thin line before Scott realized what he'd just said.

"No-wait, I didn't mean he liked her that way, ya know? Like he's just in awe of her abilities... and proud of her."

Derek wasn't sure what to think of his sudden outburst, especially since Scott had noticed Derek's body language before even Derek had. Plus, Derek's silence normally made people go quiet, not continue to babble like Scott and Stiles did.

"Stiles isn't interested in her, so don't worry over that," Scott said finally, causing Derek to fix him with an unintentionally hard look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, while simultaneously trying to relax his stare. He didn't want to come across as rude. Just as Scott was about to answer, Stiles bounded back around the corner and practically leaped into his chair. A short, red-haired girl followed him around the corner. She looked absolutely indifferent.

"Hey Lyds," Scott said, waving fondly. She rolled her eyes, but returned his smile.

"You know I don't like being called that," she addressed Scott. Her gaze immediately found Derek and looked at him. Her piercing gaze reminded him of the look Talia would give him when he and Laura got into trouble as kids. "You're Derek, then?"

Derek nodded, yet again wondering how Stiles's friends already knew him. It was hopefully a good sign. There was an awkward moment as Lydia continued to stare at Derek, who found no help in looking to Stiles and Scott for answers. They never knew what went through Lydia's mind, let alone what was going on now.

Finally, she relaxed and sat down in the chair between Scott and Stiles. "He passes."

"You said you wouldn't judge him for at least an hour," Stiles scolded, looking at her plainly. "You  _promised."_

"Does it matter? He passed didn't he?" Lydia remarked, tapping her fingers on the table absentmindedly. Scott shook his head, laughing. 

"Stiles, she did the same thing when she met Allison for the first time, remember?" He offered.

Derek seemed to be the only confused one in the room. No one seemed to be picking up on this, so he coughed once. "What?"

"You passed," Lydia repeated, swishing her hair over her shoulder. Derek had the vague thought that it was actually strawberry blonde before becoming even more confused.

"Passed what?"

"I was checking to make sure you were good enough for Stiles," she stated clearly. Leaving everyone to process what she had said. Scott looked as happy as ever, but Stiles was the first one to speak.

"Lydia!" he hissed, glaring. She smiled coyly, and then shrugged. Derek hadn't moved. He was afraid of interpreting that incorrectly. Clearly, Stiles didn't want her comment to be taken that way, so Lydia was obviously just joking. At least, that's what Derek convinced himself of. He still had a tiny feeling of hope bubbling up.

"Burgers are almost done," Sheriff Stilinski said, swooping suddenly in from outside. "They smell so good."

"I bet they'll be great," Lydia replied sweetly, smiling.

"Oh, hello Lydia. It's good to see you again," the sheriff replied, nodding in her direction.

"You too," she replied. When he had walked back inside, their conversation continued. Derek was even able to contribute this time, unlike the whirlwind of words that had bounced between Scott and Stiles earlier. Derek thought to himself several times how surprisingly nice it felt to be included in Stiles's world. He liked it.

After everyone was beginning to feel their hunger setting in, Melissa and John came back inside with a plate of burgers and hot dogs and announced ineloquently, "Burgers... and stuff," making everyone laugh.

The moment the plate hit the table, however, there was another knock on the door.

"Who could that be? The Greenbergs told me they couldn't make it." John asked, making Stiles and Derek realize he had been left out of the loop.

"Those are my pac-" Derek stopped himself short, and awkwardly finished, "-a few of my family's close friends."

"I told him to invite them so Scott and Lydia could meet them," Stiles explained, smiling. "Derek and I'll get the door."

Derek gave Stiles a relieved look as the got to the front door, and Stiles grinned back at him and joked quietly about Derek's near slip-up. With a relaxed smile, Stiles opened the door and Derek was nearly tackled by a strong, blonde girl. Standing awkwardly outside were two guys unsure of what to do about their friend.

"Erica," Derek said, hugging her back and then trying to pry her off of him. "Let go."

"Oh, you never hug me back," she pouted, obviously teasing. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked at Stiles. "Nice to meet you."

Stiles nodded and said the same thing back. He looked back at Derek expectantly.

"This is Boyd and Isaac," Derek informed him, pointing at both of them. Erica had waltzed back to Boyd's side and was clutching his arm casually. He seemed completely used to her, and Stiles realized that they were dating. He thought to himself what a good couple they made, before looking over at Isaac still quietly standing back.

"You guys come in," Stiles said, smiling. He somehow wasn't nervous at all. "I'm seriously thankful that you guys would come on such short notice."

"Free food," Erica said, "and a chance to watch Derek play nice. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"He's pretty sour, isn't he?" Stiles joked, making Derek cringe slightly. 

"But he's such a sweetheart," she teased again, patting his cheek sarcastically.

Derek rolled his eyes and pushed Stiles gently towards the kitchen. "Let's go introduce them to the others."

"Sir, yes sir," Erica replied. Boyd and Isaac were still remotely quiet behind them. If Stiles found it odd, he didn't let on. Derek was worried that Erica would give everyone the wrong impression, but she changed tunes when they walked inside. She became extremely polite and well mannered, almost to the point where Derek didn't recognize her.

Boyd grinned suddenly at Derek's confusion. "I told her she'd better behave because you wanted this to go well."

Derek nodded his thanks. Stiles was motioning to Derek discreetly, and the wolf realized he should introduce them again. Isaac spoke for the first time since entering the house as he waved hello to them. More importantly, Derek noted, he was looking at Scott curiously. Scott was interested in all of the potential pack mates in front of him, so he didn't notice.

Stiles didn't notice anything other than the way Derek was standing nervously, watching everyone.

"Since there's more of us now," Melissa said warmly, "why don't we all go outside and eat? Boys, I know some of you won't mind grabbing a couple plates to take out there, right?"

Everyone did as Melissa asked. In a few moments they were all seated outside, with John and Melissa actually sitting around the table talking, and the group of teenagers at the opposite end of the tiny deck. They had gotten some of the cushions from the chairs around the house to sit on, and everyone was pretty comfortable. Stiles had plopped down next to Derek, instantly improving his mood. Erica and Boyd were to Derek's right. Scott was, of course, beside Stiles. Isaac had easily worked his way next to Scott in their circle, so Lydia sat down between Isaac and Boyd, yet again indifferent.

Conversation was a bit awkward, with Erica and Lydia leading most of it. Scott was trying too hard to be interested in what everyone was saying, so Stiles was beginning to feel anxious for his friends. As casually as he could, Derek let his leg rest against Stiles's bouncing one. It seemed to calm him somewhat. In Derek's mind, he concluded that any sort of physical contact made him feel more at ease.

They absolutely inhaled the burgers and hotdogs that John had prepared. Somehow, he managed to make enough to feed even the extra werewolves, which he hadn't prepared for. After they were done eating, Melissa and John retreated inside from the cold.

"How can you all stand it?" Melissa worried. "Don't get sick."

"We can start a fire for you, if you all want. We've got marshmallows too," said the sheriff, enticing a large cry of enthusiasm from the entire group. By then, they had all gotten used to each other and were having conversation normally. Derek noted wryly to himself that Scott and Isaac seemed to be getting along pretty well too.

John started a small campfire for them, and they moved the cushions out of the way to make room for the chairs that had been inside around the kitchen table. Melissa had protested that their faces would be too close to the flames sitting on the floor like that and insisted they get the chairs out.

Everyone was sitting comfortably around the fire then, when the parents finally went inside.

"I like you, Scott," Erica said, from her position halfway in Boyd's lap. They were cuddling in one chair so that there would be enough for everyone. "You'll fit right in with our pack."

Scott beamed happily at her words.

"I think so too," Isaac said, speaking the loudest he had all night. He was finally warming up to them. "Talia's gonna love you."

"That's my mom," Derek said, noticing Scott's confusion. The tan boy nodded in understanding.

"Your mom's the alpha?" Stiles said, eyes growing larger.

"Yup, all the Hales are natural born wolves," Erica stated proudly. Even Lydia looked impressed. It didn't make them any stronger, really, it just gave them more control than bitten wolves.

"That's so freaking cool," Stiles muttered. "You didn't even tell me your whole family is a part of the pack."

"It never came up," Derek stated simply, making everyone laugh. "What?"

No one would answer him, just laughed at him for being so blunt, like always. When everyone had calmed down into normal conversation again, Lydia had an idea that everyone loved.

"There's an outdoor movie night at the park on Sunday night," she had said suddenly. "It's being hosted by the charity I volunteer for. Would any of you guys mind stopping by? It'd really help us out."

"I'd love to," Erica replied, almost immediately. Of course, Boyd agreed too. Isaac looked hesitantly at Scott, and then agreed confidently too.

"It sounds pretty awesome. What's playing?" Scott asked.

"I think it's Wizard of Oz. It has to be kid friendly, so we thought it would be a good choice."

Scott looked extremely excited, and turned towards Stiles. "I'm definitely gonna go too." A split second after he said this to Stiles, Scott looked back at Isaac hopefully, who grinned back at him. They turned into two grinning idiots, and just sat there looking at each other like that.

Derek sighed. "I guess I'll be there too. Mostly just to make sure Erica behaves..."

"Mostly," Erica commented wryly, wiggling her eyebrows. When everyone chuckled to themselves and looked at Derek, she looked pointedly from Derek to Stiles. Derek suddenly remembered the way their legs were pressed together, and moved it slowly away. He instantly regretted it though, when he felt the lack of Stiles's warmth.

"I definitely won't miss it," Stiles said, when he realized they were all waiting on him for an answer. Lydia clapped her hands together, satisfied. She and Erica shared a concealed grin. They had both been planning to match-make throughout the night, and it somehow happened that they ended up doing it together.

Derek suddenly had the realization that Stiles had completely changed since their conversation that morning. No sign of the anxious boy remained. Derek couldn't sense it in him either, which Derek was relieved about. He continued to keep a close eye on him though. Just to be sure. He never wanted to see Stiles afraid of someone like that ever again.

Everyone was completely content at the end of the night, even after Scott and Stiles realized they'd never gotten their marshmallows. Erica and Boyd had to leave early, but Isaac decided to ride home with Derek so that he could stay longer. Melissa wanted to leave earlier too, but Stiles offered to let Scott just spend the night so she didn't have to bring the car back to pick him up until the morning.

Lydia announced she was tired from the long day that she'd had interning at a (pretty amazing) law firm. She said goodbye to everyone as if they were all good friends, and then drove herself home. Not before politely thanking the sheriff and Mrs. McCall first, of course.

Derek hadn't even thought about his sleeping arrangements until Stiles asked. "I'll probably just head home," he answered.

"If you're sure you want to that's fine," Stiles said, half hoping Derek would change his mind. Neither of them communicated very well.

A bit quieter, Derek explained, "You'll be okay if you have Scott with you for tonight, right?" In his mind, he was purely worried about Stiles.

In Stiles's mind, he was looking for a way to go home to his own bed. "I'll be perfectly fine, you don't have to stay."

"Alright," Derek told him, almost upset. "Isaac and I'll head out then."

Isaac hadn't consented to leaving yet. He was actually pouting like a curly-headed puppy. He obviously wanted to stay with Scott a little longer, but Derek was his ride home after all.

Just as Derek was about to walk out the door, the sheriff walked down the hallway to say goodbye as well. "Thanks for coming Derek, and I'm glad you could stay with us for a while too."

Derek cringed on the inside, hoping it wouldn't embarrass Stiles. When he checked to gauge the damage, Stiles was still smiling happily at him, Isaac and Scott. Derek was relieved.

"Thanks for having me," Derek replied. Isaac repeated it to Stiles and his father, before giving a special goodbye to Scott. The two walked out and down the front porch steps. Derek turned to say something to Isaac, but stopped when he saw how hard the boy was blushing. Derek was instantly proud of isaac for some reason.

When they were safely in the car and Derek was pulling out of the driveway, Isaac slumped back against his seat.

"I think he's my mate," the boy stated, completely out of the blue and almost causing Derek to slam on the breaks.

"What?" the older wolf asked, taken aback. "You know so quickly?"

"It was like, I smelled him and just got hit with this intense feeling, like he was mine already." Isaac wasn't embarrassed at all. In fact, he was normally this blunt about things. Derek had never seen him as shy as he was around Scott. 

"Isaac..." Derek started, and then trailed off, not sure how to put it. "Scott has-"

"-A girlfriend, yes I know that," Isaac finished. "I heard Stiles say it sometime while we were eating."

Derek was quiet, knowing the Isaac would continue.

"I don't care. I just want to be around him."

Derek sighed. "Unfortunately, I think he may have felt something for you too. I can't be sure."

"Unfortunately?" Isaac asked, reaching up to play with his hair. "Is that a bad thing?"

"You've got to be careful, Isaac. I know you think Scott is all you want, but if he feels the same you have to be aware of his girlfriend too. Scott won't just leave her."

"I know," Isaac said quietly. "I don't want him to do anything he'll regret."

"He's lucky," Derek told Isaac firmly, "to have your attention so quickly." It was a Derek compliment, sure, but it had the same effect on Isaac than if it had been his own father telling him that. Isaac immediately brightened.

"I'll be careful," he promised, "to make sure neither of them get their feelings hurt."

"Good," Derek responded. Isaac turned up the radio, signaling the end of the conversation. Derek was just fine with that. He wanted to think about how the night had gone. At this rate, Scott would be a part of the pack in no time. He was a hit with Derek's pack already, and like Isaac had said, Talia would love him too.

Derek's thoughts inevitably turned to Stiles. He pondered the many things that had been said, but was unable to find any other conclusions than what he had decided earlier. After dropping Isaac off at home, Derek tiredly drove himself home. Even when he was about to crawl into bed, Derek was remembering the way he and Stiles had just fit together. They had sat close together as if they were already close, and that thought made him absurdly happy. He subconsciously felt the side of his body where Stiles had been pressed against, and was relaxed enough to go to sleep just remembering it. 

Derek's home was a direct contrast to the Stilinski household. They had homely decor that made everyone feel comfortable. Now, looking at his own apartment with it's stainless steel and dark cabinets, Derek felt kind-of cold. It was sort of lonely and he couldn't put his finger on why. Possibly the fact that it only smelled like him in the entire place. Laura had been away for a while, and Stiles had never even been to Derek's place yet.

The "yet" in that thought made Derek realize he intended for Stiles to see it soon. It was a pleasant thought. When Derek got into bed, he could feel his eyes already drooping. He'd had a long day, and spent a while away from his own bed. But even though he had missed it, he could definitely tell that it was missing a certain brown-haired boy he wished was there. 

Before he could fall asleep, his phone dinged a few times. When he saw Stiles's name, he opened it a bit quicker.

**_Hey, thanks for all that you did this weekend._ **

Derek didn't understand why Stiles was thanking him.  **Don't thank me. I wanted to help you**

_**Still, I appreciate it. Also, Scott and I loved your packmates** _

**They really liked you guys too. Scott's basically already pack**

_**That's good to hear. I'm slightly excited for the outdoor movie thing. PS Lydia is grateful you guys are coming too** _

**It'll be cool. Glad we can do something for her.**

Derek had gotten over his nervousness to be around Stiles. With the others there, he didn't have to worry about staying in control. They gave him strength.

**_BTW, did you notice Scott &Isaac?_ **

**Yup.**

_**Scott couldn't stop talking about him haha.** _

**Isaac was the same way**

_**Kind of interesting, huh? Anyways, I'll let you get some sleep...** _

_No,_ Derek wanted to say.  _Keep me awake all night if you want._ Instead, he texted goodnight and put the phone down. He really was tired. People tired him out easily. He hadn't realized it though, until he left Stiles.

Derek slept soundly when he finally fell asleep. He completely forgot that Laura would be there in the morning sometime to wake him up. If he had remembered, he would've locked the door to keep her from bounding in. Which she  _always_ did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the big reveal of the ex boyfriend... Were you guys really surprised?
> 
> Also I'd like to just make a statement.  
> THEO WAS NOT SEXUALLY ABUSIVE. Thank you.


	4. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, what an exciting, tension-filled night.  
> And oh, the love in the air is stifling!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Stiles is a little too young to be drinking, just a warning.  
> Also, long chapter so buckle up.  
> Enjoy!

"Hey brother!" 

" _Laura,_ " Derek hissed as she opened the door and proceeded to talk the second she walked in. "Fuck off."

"It's  _1:30_ ," she stated, ignoring him. "You've slept long enough."

Derek ignored her, and put a pillow over his head to block out the light shining in from the doorway. No one wanted to be woken up at all, let alone this way. 

"It's important," Laura said, still standing there waiting. " _Derek."_

Derek knew she wouldn't go away until he acknowledged her, so he removed the pillow from his head and sat up. He blinked several times for a moment, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the sudden harsh light. Laura actually gave him a moment to wake up this time. That didn't stop him from fixing her with a solid scowl.

"Mom's having a banquet-ball-thing," she said, rushing to get the words out, "and she wants us to go!"

"No," Derek said simply, before laying back down and rolling away from his sister.

"You look refreshed to me," Laura stated. Indeed, he did. He did have extraordinary bed head, with strands of hair standing almost on their own. He did look a little wrinkled from the bed, and he was beginning to grow back the scruff on his chin. But he had gotten a good night's rest.

"I feel fine," Derek told her, still not sitting up again.

But Laura wasn't easy to ignore. She pounced on him, landing with one knee digging into his stomach and the other on the bed to his side. Like it or not, she wanted his attention.

"Mom said you  _have_ to go! It's super important that you, me and Cora all go because it's a such a big deal," Laura explained. "Plus, she said to tell you there's going to be several advertising agencies that'll be looking around that night."

Derek's interest was caught. He was hoping to somehow get into the advertising world after taking several jobs for his mother in that department. In fact, he'd done most of their successful ads since she started letting him work. Of course his mother knew that would get him to show up.

He honestly wasn't that worried about going, especially if Cora was going to be there. His younger sister was completely different than Laura in social situations. She had the rare gift of blending into crowds, which Derek liked when he was forced to go places too. She was less of an excited puppy, too. Cora was always polite and friendly in public, which helped their mother out in various social events. But at home, Cora was almost the opposite. She wasn't rude or anything, just more of a troublemaker.

He carefully weighed his options. "What day is it?"

Laura grinned. "It's Friday night."

Derek thought longer about it, but knew he was trapped. "I'll go if Cora does," he said finally.

Laura whined. "But then I have to convince Cora..."

"Not my problem," Derek stated. "Now, get off."

Laura grinned again, but did as he asked and slid onto the bed beside him. "Aw, Dere, don't go back to sleep!"

"I'm tired," he growled, not shaking her at all.

"What's made you so exhausted?" she asked. 

"Nothing," was all Derek would say. "I want to go back to sleep."

Laura pouted. "I just got back, and that's all you've got to say to me?"

Derek immediately felt guilty. He would've woken up if he had remembered the night before to set an alarm. He had been too tired, though. Actually, when he looked over at his sister, he realized how well dressed she was. It wasn't strange to see her in nice clothes when she traveled, true, but since Cora had taken her home he would've assumed she would have wanted to be comfortable. She was wearing nice, white pants with a pretty blue sweater he remembered her wearing for an interview once. To top it off, she had nice jewelry on as well.

He sat up a little. "We can go to dinner later, if you want," Derek offered.

Laura gave an excited yowl, dipping into her wolf side for a moment. "We can go to that little restaurant downtown with the-"

"-the ravioli," Derek interjected. "Yes, I know."

They had been there together several times. It was becoming a tradition.

"We can leave here around 5:30ish, that sound okay?" Laura asked, standing up finally.

Suddenly Derek realized something he'd forgotten. "Ah, I actually have to meet the pack around 7 for a movie thing at the park. You can come if you want, but it's just Wizard of OZ."

"Is it that outdoor movie thing?" Laura asked. "How in the world did the pack end up going to something like that?" 

"Long story," Derek shrugged.

"Whatever you say," Laura responded. "We can go at 4:30, then."

"Sure," Derek responded.

"Can I invite Cora to the pack thing? She's missed them all terribly."

"Of course," Derek replied smoothly. He missed his other sister.

"Do you mind if I hang out here for a bit?" Laura asked, putting a hand on the doorknob.

Derek felt guilty again. "I'm not going back to sleep," he told her. "So stay for as long as you want."

"Thanks, Dere," she said, using his nickname. Only she could really get away with calling him that. 

He didn't respond, and she shut the door behind her.

\----------------------

"I don't know how to get there, " Laura stated. She'd offered to drive. 

Derek gave her an exasperated stare. "I've driven you several times!"

"I didn't pay attention!" she explained.

"Why not?" 

"I was busy with the radio..." she trailed off. Her argument was weak. "...and stuff."

Derek rolled his eyes so hard it almost gave him a headache. "I'll drive." He snatched her keys from her and traded them for his that were resting on the counter top. "But we take my car."

"Okay," she replied, unapologetic.

As Derek drove them downtown, his mind was completely filled with thoughts about the night before. He and Stiles had been so close together the entire night. Just thinking of it improved his mood, which Laura noticed despite the loud radio station she'd chosen. Still, she left him to his thoughts and they sat in comfortable silence.

All of his thoughts were mostly positive. When he pondered Scott and Isaac's connection, the more he found that he accepted it. All he wanted was for Isaac to be happy, which he would be with Scott. (and vice versa, of course.) There really wasn't an explanation for it, but it was obvious how it affected both of them. They wanted to be near each other.

His mind wandered to the pack situation, and how relieved he was that everything was going smoothly. Everyone got along exceptionally well, which was surprising for a pack like theirs. Since his mother wasn't around much, Derek was in charge of keeping order, which could be a tricky business. Even though Laura was older and the responsibility should've been hers, she didn't want it. That and she tended to travel often too. So, Derek had taken over.

Back to the moment, Derek was relieved to see that Laura had changed into more comfortable clothes. Nevertheless, they were still both well-dressed. The two of them together, even as casual as they looked, were still incredibly stunning. It must've been a Hale family gene or something, because when their entire family was together, it left everyone in awe. They couldn't help it, being the center of attention. It just came so naturally that they were forced to deal with it. 

That explains the blubbering females everywhere Derek went. His hatred of being the center of attention stemmed from the constant attention of being a Hale. It explained his gruff appearance. He was tired of so many people being interested in him for appearance alone. 

However, he was forever impressed with his mother and sister's ability to turn that attention to something positive. His mother owned a re-housing company for Christ's sake. It was literally centered around finding homes for people who need them. It had grown rapidly thanks to Talia's constant care and attention. Naturally, it had attracted the eye of the media for both its impressive work, and of course the Hale family name.

"Why's there so much traffic?" Laura wondered suddenly, almost shocking Derek out of his reverie. He didn't know either.

In truth, he had barely noticed the crawling traffic. He had been pretty lost in thought.

"Just pull into the garage," Laura said, pointing at the parking garage to their right. "I've got a parking permit with me."

Derek rolled down the window and leaned back so the man in the booth could see Laura, who flashed a pretty smile and held out the parking pass. The man stamped it, and then handed it back to them. The gate raised, and just as the window rolled up the man told them (Laura, mostly) to "Have a nice evening."

"We will," Laura said, just to Derek. He rolled his eyes, but grinned despite himself. His sister really was a flirt.

Derek pulled the car into a parking spot, and climbed out. Laura followed suit, and walked around the car to stand next to him as he checked to be sure he had everything.

"Alright," he said, and they started walking out of the parking lot. They were lucky enough to find a spot on the first floor, so they hadn't had to use the grimy elevator.

The restaurant Laura had been talking about was called Vinny's, and was on the main street that went down to the river. The walkway that began on that street, alongside the river, was called the Beacon Boardwalk, and all kinds of people were there constantly. Derek normally didn't like crowds, but the boardwalk was one weird exception.

" _Ohhh,_ " Laura said, as they got closer and saw the mass amounts of people walking around. "They're having the river fest, right?"

Derek could see she was right. They had it once every year for a weekend. There were lots of tents stretched along the boardwalk in the gap between two large buildings. Derek knew if they got closer they'd see them extending down the length of the boardwalk. There were all kinds of food vendors loitering about, and all of the tents were noisily selling products to the people passing by.

"I'm hungry," Derek told Laura, as she tried to pull him down to the boardwalk. "We can go after."

She grinned at him, and started pulling him the other way instead, towards Vinny's. There didn't seem to be a line, much to Derek's relief. He really was hungry.

\---------------

"I'm so full," Laura stated. She was leaning back in her chair, watching people walk by the window. They hadn't left Vinny's yet because of how much time they had.

The two of them hadn't taken into account how quickly they ate, and were left with tons of time to kill. It was only 5:30, and because the park was nearby, they didn't have to leave until 6:40. 

"You did eat alot," Derek said, joking. But she had eaten almost more than Derek.  _Almost._

"I'm a healthy girl," she responded defiantly, "and I need to eat. So I do."

"Yes you do," Derek replied, his face splitting into a grin. "Let's get out of here."

"I do want to walk around, and we've got plenty of time..." Laura said, before nodding in response.

Derek paid, and opened the door for his sister. The bell chimed on the door as they walked out, making several people on the street look over at them. Derek winced, and actually let Laura drag him away.

"Look at all the booths," she breathed. He was going to have a hard time keeping her from buying too much.

In the end, she only bought a few things. She insisted over and over that the earrings she'd picked out would look amazing with something their mother owned, so she got them as a gift for Talia. And of course, she had to have similar ones for herself. Another woman had nearly convinced her that her special brew of tea would be just perfect to relieve stress or something. But luckily Derek caught her before she bought the nasty stuff. He didn't know if witches were common in the area, but he wasn't willing to find out.

"I've almost had enough of this," Derek told Laura, trying not to growl at the people stepping into his way to offer their products for sale. 

"I know," Laura replied. "Let's get some ice cream and go up those steps for a bit?"

Derek nodded.

Just as he began to follow his sister down the street, a couple people gathered under a brown tent caught his eye. Derek turned towards it and was surprised to see the words "Beacon County Sheriff Dept." written on the top of the tent. Under it, in a totally normal work uniform (badge and all) was Sheriff Stilinski. Derek was trying to determine whether or not he was going to say hello, but when he looked back up he couldn't find the sheriff anymore.

"Hey, Derek," the sheriff said, suddenly in front of the startled werewolf.

"Sheriff," Derek replied, covering his surprise smoothly. He shook the man's hand. 

"Call me John, remember?" he said. 

Derek smiled as charmingly as he could. "Right." Laura, realizing her brother wasn't following, turned around and came back.

"Is there a problem?" She asked politely, smiling sweetly. Derek could hear the tone in her voice that signaled she was ready to defend her brother.

"No ma'am," the sheriff said. "I'm just seeing how Derek here is doing."

"Ah," Laura said, and looked to Derek in confirmation. He nodded and looked back at the sheriff.

"Anyways, what are you kids doing out here?" John asked, still smiling. "I thought you all had that movie in the park."

"We're actually killing time before we have to go to that," Derek replied gesturing to Laura. "We got something to eat before because Laura just got back into town."

"Welcome back," the sheriff said kindly. "Well you guys be sure to have fun, and keep an eye on Stiles, won't you? I've gotta get back to the tent."

"Will do," Derek said, shaking his hand again.

"Good to see you," the sheriff said, before heading off into the crowd towards the tent again.

"Since when have you been on such good terms with the  _Sheriff?_ " Laura asked. She was quite taken aback. "Don't you dare say it was a long story," she snapped.

"It was a long story though," Derek shrugged.

Laura narrowed her eyes. She pointed a finger directly into his chest and glared at him. Derek was getting nervous. "You're not sleeping with him, are you?"

"Gross," Derek said. He was instantly relieved, but also extremely grossed out. "No, you idiot!"

People were beginning to stare now, and not just because they were attractive or something. They were causing a bit of a scene. 

"It's not my fault you don't tell me anything!" she cried, waving her hands around.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Derek hissed, lowering his voice.

"Fine!" Laura announced. "But we're talking about it  _now_." She marched off, knowing he'd follow.

Derek was walking a few steps behind her, like a kicked puppy dog even though he'd done nothing wrong. All he'd done was not tell her about Stiles. She most likely didn't even know that Stiles was the reason for everything he was doing lately. She just knew him too well, and knew he was keeping things from her.

Before he knew it, they were back at the car. Laura was waiting impatiently beside the camaro, tapping her foot. He unlocked it without a word and she climbed inside. He sighed heavily before opening his door and getting inside as well.

"Are you going to tell me now?" She questioned. He could feel the hurt underneath her irritation.

"There's not much to say," Derek replied. "But I'll tell you about what you missed."

Derek took his time catching her up on everything that had happened when she left him after the play. Although, he didn't really tell her about his confusing feelings for Stiles, or his lack of control when the boy was around. He told her about Stiles, though, and how he'd met Scott to see if he'd be allowed into the pack. He explained that this was the reason he'd agreed to the movie night. Because after all, the pack was his responsibility right now.

"Bullshit," Laura said. "I mean, I believe most of it. But you're not telling me everything."

 _Damn,_ Derek thought,  _she's good._

He was quiet.

"Tell me about the sheriff's son," Laura said, unknowingly zeroing in on the source of Derek's discomfort.

"Stiles?"

"Yes, Stiles. Is he cute?"

"I guess?" Derek said. "What does this have to do wi-"

"You like him," Laura said, satisfied. Derek will never know how she knew him so well. It went beyond the pack bond.

"No." Derek tried to protest.

"Don't play games with me," Laura said. "Why wouldn't you tell me that?"

"I haven't admitted it yet," Derek stated truthfully.

"Does he know?" 

"Not at all," Derek replied mournfully, surprising himself. "It doesn't matter though. I'm not rushing."

"Why not?"

"I can't rush him right now. Just trust me, okay?"

"I do," Laura replied slowly. 

Derek was glad to be off the hot seat. He knew Laura would let it rest and quit questioning him. Besides, it was almost time to leave for the movie night anyways.

"Let's go," Derek told her. They both buckled up. 

"It's going to be kinda cold, isn't it?" Laura asked.

"Probably," Derek replied, trying to concentrate on driving.

"I'm glad we don't really need that heavy of a jacket. It'd be a pain."

"Yes it would," Derek said. He really wasn't listening that well.

"Stiles might be cold. Good thing you're a werewolf. You can share your body heat with him."

That immediately got Derek's attention. Laura only laughed at his surprise, and secretly she was laughing at the sudden determination in his eyes. She knew her baby brother well.

\--------------------------------

**[A little Earlier]**

"Dude, we've been playing for hours," Scott whined, covering his eyes with his arm. "My eyes are so tired."

"One more round," Stiles begged. "It's been forever since we last played..."

"You said 'one more' five rounds ago," Scott reminded him. "I'm tired."

"Fine," Stiles said, pouting. He wasn't mad, though. They had been playing video games basically the entire day.

"Besides, I'll see you again tonight, right?"

"I don't know if I really want to go..." Stiles trailed off. "Besides, you and Isaac will probably be all cuddly so I won't get to talk to you much."

Scott's cheeks reddened. "It's not like that."

"It is for him." Stiles knew it. Scott knew it. Everyone knew it. Scott was just trying to ignore it.

"I know," Scott said, still covering his face. "I just don't know what to do."

"You've got to make up your mind," Stiles told him gently. "Or you'll lose in the end."

Scott didn't move, but they both knew Stiles was right. 

"Whatever," Scott said, shaking off the heaviness of the conversation. His voice turned to teasing. "Derek will be there."

Stiles looked at Scott, slightly confused. "What?"

"Oh please," Scott said, rolling his eyes. "I know how you are when you like someone."

"I don't," Stiles stated. "I don't like Derek."

"Yes you do." Scott wasn't even paying attention to him. He had picked up the game controller again and hit play.

Stiles pushed pause. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, you guys can't take your eyes off of each other. And plus, you've got to have noticed how close you guys always sit."

Stiles had noticed. He didn't realize it was so obvious, though. Great. Just when he was trying to go for subtle he find out he was walking around like a giant billboard reading,  _I like Derek Hale._

Stiles stood up from the ground in front of the TV where they were sitting and threw himself onto his bed. Scott didn't move from the floor.

"It's not a bad thing," Scott said gently. "He likes you too."

"No, he just wants to get close to you so you'll be part of his pack." Stiles had about a billion reasons in his mind that Derek wouldn't think of him that way.

"He didn't even know about me until  _after_ you two were hanging out," Scott pointed out. He laughed. "Don't be delusional."

"I'm not the delusional one," Stiles fired back. Then he felt bad for snapping. "Sorry. I just don't think that's it. There's got to be something else."

"There is, you just won't admit it."

"Says the one who won't admit he likes Isaac, even a little," Stiles didn't feel remorse for that comment. Scott's brow furrowed.

"What a weird situation," Scott commented.

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked.

"We're both suddenly faced with two huge relationship milestones, you know? Like, I'll admit, Isaac has been on my mind. I don't know what to do between him and Allison. And she gets back from France this Wednesday... and you're trying to find your way through this thing with Derek..."

"I know what you mean," Stiles said. It was all so sudden.

"Anyways," Scott said, standing, "I need to get home and help my mom out with some chores and things."

"I'll see you later tonight," Stiles said. "I got my jeep fixed, so want me to give you a ride?"

"That'd be great," Scott replied. "See you buddy."

"Later."

Stiles was left alone. It didn't take long for him to get bored. It was only 5 anyways, so he didn't have to go anywhere for a while. It only took like 20 minutes to get to the park. He could take a nap or something, but he was just too awake. 

He went into the bathroom for a moment, and when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, he grimaced. He ran a hand through his hair to see how badly it needed to be washed. Now that it was growing out some, he had to wash it way more. If he didn't it was really noticeable when he hadn't showered.

Stiles decided to take a shower. After all, he was going to be with a bunch of werewolves with freaking super smell. 

The familiar noise of the water rushing out of the pipes and hitting the tile floor was suddenly a very soothing sound. As he waited for the shower water to heat up, Stiles went to hook his phone up to its charger. When he went back into the bathroom, he hopped into the shower.

The water felt amazing. Stiles kept turning the heat up until he could barely stand it before he finally started washing his hair. His thoughts turned back to his conversation with Scott as he absentmindedly cleaned up. 

Scott was never wrong with relationship advice, in all the time that Stiles had known him. He'd always believed the best in everyone, though, so that's probably what was happening. Sure, he and Derek had sat close together, but was that really enough to say that Derek could even consider liking him?

Without meaning to, Stiles thought of Derek. He could picture almost exactly how the older man had looked sleeping on the ground next to Stiles's bed. He was so peaceful. Stiles felt himself blush when he realized he was only remembering how Derek had slept half naked on the floor. His back muscles-no wait, all of his muscles- were pretty impressive after all. Stiles was embarrassed to admit it, but he knew Derek was an attractive guy.

It didn't hurt to think about him, anyways, Stiles decided. He had nothing to lose by  _thinking_ about him. Or thinking about him touching Stiles. Or kissing Stiles, everywhere. Stiles could imagine the feel of Derek's stubble scratching everywhere his mouth went. He could practically feel Derek's strong grip on his arms, holding him in place the more he moved his mouth. Stiles was writhing around just thinking of it. Imagine the real thing. _  
_

_Wait,_ Stiles thought desperately,  _don't imagine the real thing!_ It was too late, the damage was done.

"Crap," Stiles said out loud. He hadn't meant to, really, but he'd thought a little too much. He had an uncomfortable hard-on.

Accepting defeat, Stiles leaned against the tile wall of his shower and thought for a moment.

_It can't.. hurt anything. Right?_

Before he could register anything other than the desperate need for a hand on his cock, Stiles was working his hand up and down its shaft thinking only of Derek. He couldn't see anything other than Derek's face, Derek's hands and his throat... so he closed his eyes to imagine them harder. Stiles suddenly remembered the intense eye contact they had on the couch before his dad walked in, and he allowed himself to picture what could've happened.

Without warning, Stiles lost control. He was a moaning mess by the time he came- which really didn't take that long- and he sat down tiredly on the floor of the shower. Stiles let the water run down his head and his back, scalding away the sticky whiteness left. When he stood back up, a while had passed. Turning off the water quickly, Stiles practically leaped out of the shower. He towel-dried as fast as he could and pulled on a random set of comfortable clothes. He dove into his bed and pulled the covers over his head and tried to ignore the pounding of his heartbeat.

It'd just hit him what he'd done. He had barely been able to admit he found Derek attractive before he was coming at the thought of Derek. He realized how seriously immediate their entire relationship (whatever it was) had been, and how there was no way Derek could feel the same about him after so short a period of time.

Just as Stiles was beginning to despair, his dad called. The phone rang a moment before he could convince himself to pick it up.

"Hello?" he said quietly.

_"Sorry, did I wake you from a nap?"_

"No, no, I was just reading," Stiles lied, wondering if his dad could tell.

_"Ah, alright. I just wanted to check in and see how your day was. Scott there?"_

"No, he left about"-Stiles looked at his clock- "an hour and a half ago."

Wait, it was 6:30?  _There's no way..._

But time had flown by while Stiles was...in the shower, and he was running incredibly late.

"Dad!" Stiles cried, "I'm gonna be late, I really gotta go I'm sorry!"

 _"Okay,"_ his dad replied.  _"Just tell Derek and his girlfriend I said hi. I saw them today at the fest."_

Stiles stopped dead in his tracks. "Girlfriend?"

_"Yeah, or at least a pretty friend. They got along well. Anyways, have fun at the movie okay? Bring a jacket or two, because it's still cold outside. Text me after so I know when you're heading home."_

"Yeah," Stiles replied. His hands were shaking, and he suddenly needed to sit down. "Bye, dad."

He almost couldn't hit the end call button.

Stiles sat in numb shock, for a few more minutes before Scott texted him, wondering where he was.

 **I'm not going after all.** Stiles told Scott.

_**What? Why???** _

**I don't want to.**

_**Don't be silly, I already told my mom you were taking me, so I need a ride** _

Stiles didn't respond.

**_dude?_ **

He sighed, and texted Scott back that he would take him.

**_You have to stay too. No exceptions._ **

**I don't want to.**

_**I played video games ALL DAY FOR YOU.** _

Stiles knew he'd been beat, but it wouldn't stop him from staying as far away as possible from Derek. He'd gotten himself into the same position as Isaac, which was seeming more and more hopeless. Derek wouldn't fucking leave a wonderful girlfriend for  _him._ Not that Stiles would ever ask him to, that is.

He told Scott he was coming, and then ran outside after locking the door. He tried not to speed, but he and Scott really would be late to the movie if he didn't pick up the pace. 

He honked once, and Scott came running out like a madman.

"Go!" he exclaimed, as if something were chasing him. "We're gonna be so late man."

"Relax," Stiles said, not at all relaxed himself. "We've still got ten minutes."

"Stiles..." Scott warned. "You're not thinking about..."

"I am." Stiles told him. "Pray for the best."

\------------------

They made it almost on time. They were five minutes over, but come on, covering twenty minutes worth of distance in almost ten without getting pulled had to be a new record. 

Anyways, the two boys tumbled out of Stiles's jeep the moment it was parked and ran down the path pointing to the "movie night" area.

"Two tickets," Stiles panted, glaring at Scott who wasn't even winded.

"I'll pay," Scott said, stepping up. Stiles let him, in no condition to argue.

The moment they had their tickets, the two of them  _fast walked_ to where the pack was sitting. Luckily they were close to the back, so they didn't disrupt much as they stepped around various blankets, picnic baskets and people. Actually, it seemed the audience was made up of 90% families with younger children, and older people. There didn't seem to be any other teenagers save for the pack.

Stiles had forgotten his dilemma on the way over, but the moment he saw Derek and the gorgeous woman sitting next to him, it came back to him like a slap to the face.

They were all siting in a row. Boyd sat on one end with Erica at his side. Next to her was Lydia, and a little bit over from her was Isaac. With an open space next to him (clearly meant for Scott) there was another that was also obvious that it was intended for Stiles.

He immediately slowed, and Scott noticed.

"What're you doing?" He asked, then winced as parents everywhere shushed him. It wasn't even a big scene...

"Nothing," Stiles said, shrugging. "I'm tired." He put his head down, unwilling to say anything more, and Scott silently kept walking in front of him.

When they reached the group, everyone greeted them quietly. After Scott sat next to Isaac, there were those two open spots, one next to Derek (courtesy of the pack), and another beside Lydia. Surprise, he plopped down next to Lydia.

Everyone acted like they didn't notice, but their minds were racing. Erica and Lydia shared a glance, but neither of them knew what to say.

Stiles kept his eyes forcefully towards the screen for a long while. 

"Enough," Lydia whispered finally. "What's bugging you?"

"Don't know what you mean," he said, not meeting her eyes.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Stiles, have you got a stick up your ass or something?" she demanded to know, earning several extremely scary glares from a parent sitting close. They moved away from the pack to sit somewhere else.

"No," was all he would say in reply.

"Fine," she said, throwing her hands in exasperation. Then on a kinder note, "will you at least get me something from the concessions?"

Stiles thought for a moment, and then realizing it was a chance to get away for a moment, jumped at the chance. Lydia handed him ten bucks and told him to go nuts with the money. She only wanted a water.

After he stood up and moved away, Stiles felt relieved. He couldn't feel Derek's gaze on him anymore. It was excruciating, like the man knew what Stiles had been thinking about him. Like he knew how embarrassed Stiles felt.

"Wait up, Stiles," Scott called as quiet as he could. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Stiles spat, trying to move away. Scott wouldn't have it.

"Something's messed with your head," Scott guessed. "Tell me what's wrong, damnit."

Stiles looked at him finally, a tiny bit alarmed by Scott's sudden expletive. Stiles realized how serious his best friend was right now.

"I don't know," Stiles said simply. He really didn't know.

Scott waited, knowing Stiles had something he wanted to say. They were far enough away from the group where Stiles felt comfortable they all couldn't hear. He could see Derek's head turned towards the movie.

"Why would I torture myself by sitting with him tonight?"

"You seemed okay with it earlier," Scott pressed gently.

"I didn't know he had a girlfriend then!" Stiles exclaimed, and then lowering his voice in alarm.

"They can't hear you," Scott reassured him. "But Stiles that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

That wasn't what Stiles expected to hear. He expected Scott to give him the pitying puppy eyes and tell Stiles how unfortunate it was.

"He doesn't have a girlfriend," Scott continued. "I don't even know who you think it is, but that's stupid."

"The one sitting next to him?" Stiles stated, pointing at the back of Laura's head.

Scott couldn't help himself. He laughed. Stiles gave him a sour look, and he laughed a little harder.

"Look at you," Scott grinned, "getting so jealous over Derek's  _sister."_ He let that sink in.

"Sister?" Stiles echoed, completely and utterly lost. Maybe it wasn't her then. "But my dad told me he saw Derek at the river fest with his girlfriend."

"I can tell you right now, that Laura  _Hale_ is not Derek's girlfriend."

A woman came around the corner just then, eyes wide. She had a smile on her face, but she was clearly as confused as they were. She had short, brown hair and wore tight-fitting work-out that proudly showed off her toned muscles.

"Who are..." she looked at Stiles, and then Scott, "...you?"

"I'm Scott," he told her quickly. "This is Stiles."

"Why are you talking about Derek Hale?" she questioned, suddenly making Stiles nervous. She had a serious glint in her eyes.

"I'm just clearing it up for my buddy here that Laura and Derek are siblings."

"Oh," she stated, relaxing. "I'm Cora, Derek's other sister."

"Nice to meet you," Scott replied. Stiles was considerably shocked. He didn't know Derek's other sister was so close to his age. It looked like she was barely 18.

"And you," she replied, mostly looking at Stiles. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Huh?" Stiles managed, finally snapping out of it. "From who?"

"Let me just clear this up nice and well," Cora stated, firmly placing a hand on Scott and Stiles's shoulder. "Derek doesn't have a girlfriend. He's solidly, one thousand percent gay. No boyfriend either."

She winked at Scott, who's confused expression soon turned to understanding. He stepped aside as she marched off, leaving the two alone. Stiles turned around and watched her walk gracefully and speak to Lydia for a moment, before taking his seat.

"That solves that problem," Scott said simply. "Let's go back." 

Stiles nodded numbly and followed his best friend back towards the pack.

Now that Cora had taken his seat, Stiles had no choice but to quietly accept defeat and settle beside Derek, who immediately brightens. (Not that Stiles notices, of course...)

\--------------

Derek didn't know what was going on the moment Stiles basically refused to sit with him. He'd spent most of the day thinking about Stiles, only to have the boy not want anything to do with him. Stiles plopped down next to Lydia, which made Derek seethe before he caught himself. He knew Stiles wasn't into girls, didn't he?

Either way, Stiles had gotten up about a quarter of the way into the movie clutching a crumpled bill and started heading towards concessions. Derek was moving to follow before Erica coughed and got his attention. She shook her head, confusing him, and then motioned towards Stiles. He finally saw Scott following after his best friend, and Derek realized his pack already had it covered for him. Which was slightly embarrassing.

He decided to wait until the two boys came back.

When Cora came out of the blue and moved to sit next to him, Lydia told her quickly to sit down with her instead. Derek wanted to say hello to his sister, but knowing Lydia had a plan, he settled for just waving hello to her. Without warning, Stiles appeared at his side.

It instantly improved his mood, and the rest of the pack relaxed finally. Scott and Isaac settled down closer to each other, and Erica and Boyd went back to ignoring the movie.

Derek decided he could make do with the little space between he and Stiles. He didn't want to rush the boy, after how tense he was.

About ten minutes after that decision, Derek could feel himself growing tense as well. Laura nudged him hard in the side with her elbow.  _Touch him, nitwit,_ she mouthed.

Derek rolled his eyes, but was extremely annoyed that his thoughts were so obvious. Both he and Stiles were sitting with their knees up and their arms draped over their legs.

Ignoring everyone but Stiles now, Derek cautiously placed his arm behind Stiles's, and leaned a little bit closer. When the boy didn't immediately move away from him in disgust, Derek was able to relax. He let himself touch Stiles, ever so casually along the sides of their shoulders. Derek felt each second as he waited for Stiles to move or do  _anything._ They felt as if they were really hours.

Stiles leaned into Derek's shoulder suddenly. Derek was so prepared for rejection that he almost pulled away he was so startled. But they were finally touching again, and Derek was instantly happy again.

He wasn't done yet, though. He gulped hard. Now for the worst part.

Slowly,  _slowly_ he reached his hand around to Stile's other side, and placed it there as gently as he could as though hoping Stiles wouldn't notice. The boy did notice though.

Stiles was scared, really scared. But he didn't want to mess it up either, so he had leaned into Derek. But with Derek's hand finding its way to his hip, Stiles relaxed almost immediately. He forgot about his earlier tension.

Derek felt him relax, and finally allowed both of them to ease up into leaning against each other. By the end of the movie, Stiles's head was halfway resting on Derek's shoulder.

The only ones who actually watched the movie was Cora, Isaac and Scott. They all enjoyed it immensely, though.

"I don't want to go home yet," Isaac said-half whined- to Scott, who agreed.

Lydia nodded enthusiastically. "I don't either, so let's find something to do."

"We can all hang out," Laura said, reiterating their thought. "But where? Isn't everywhere closed at this time?"

It was only 9ish, but most places to go in Beacon Hills closed early during their fall break in November. 

"True," Scott said, thinking, "I don't have any ideas."

Just as they were beginning to brainstorm, Stiles and Derek finally caught up. Somehow they had been left to grab all of the blankets that the pack had brought. Seriously, why do werewolves need so many blankets?

"What's going on?" Derek asked hesitantly, bringing the attention to him.

"OH! I know, we can all go to Derek's apartment. They don't mind a little noise."

Everyone looked back to Derek hopefully. No one noticed Lydia, Laura and Erica all motioning towards Stiles staring obliviously at Scott, still wondering what was happening.

Cora spoke up. "Derek's place is perfect. Don't you agree, Derek?"

He made up his mind, but he wanted to be sure who was coming. So he asked.

"I'm beat," Erica said, rubbing a sore spot on her shoulder. She had spent the day working for a moving company, and her arms were bothering her. Even for a werewolf, she had done a lot of work.

"I am too," Boyd stated. He didn't need to offer before it was clear that they were both going to head home.

Of course, Isaac, Scott, Lydia, Laura and Cora were all coming, so that left Stiles who shrugged indifferently. 

"I guess I've got nothing better to do..."

"Awesome," Lydia interrupted. "Derek, we'll all follow you to the apartment."

"I know the way," Laura stated quickly. "So does Cora and Isaac. I'll ride with you, Lydia."

Lydia smiled at the girl, and then turned around to delegate the other cars. Scott and Stiles would ride together again, but Isaac would be in their car to help navigate in case they lost Derek in traffic. Erica and Boyd had already said their goodbyes by the time this was decided, so everyone hopped in the car except for Laura and Derek.

"Don't worry," Laura winked, "you'll see him at home."

Derek had a sudden realization.

Stiles Stilinski was going to be in his home. He got into his car as quick as he could, and could barely wait for the jeep behind him to catch up before he was leading the way back to his apartment. He was glad he kept the place clean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been so irritated with a chapter before. I was nearly done with it when I accidentally clicked the refresh button.
> 
> I lost everything I'd written. I was so mad at myself for not saving it that I had to take an entire day before I could come back and rewrite it.  
> ....I won't be making that mistake EVER again.  
> Trust me.


	5. The Good Kind of Wolfsbane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The few of them after the movie decide to crash Derek's house.  
> Cora's got a recipe for beer so strong it can wreck even a werewolf.  
> Seriously, what could go wrong?

" _Woah_ ," Scott stated in awe as he walked into the apartment. Derek had gotten there a few heartbeats before everyone else, just in time to pick up a few things that were lying around.

"This is your place?" Stiles called, stumbling in right behind Scott. An unimpressed Isaac followed. He had been to Derek's place several times since he joined the pack. But it was a new apartment to Scott and Stiles. The impressive interior was also a bit intimidating. Derek did his best to welcome everyone inside, but it came across as though he was worried a neighbor would see them.

"It's dirty," Isaac quipped, kicking a pillow with his toe. Laura had most likely moved it for something random.

"Ah, thank you, Isaac, for stating the obvious," Derek replied, narrowing his eyes at the curly-haired wolf. "I didn't realize I was having guests."

"If you don't want us here it's perfectly fine to find another place," Scott said, ever the gentleman.

Derek looked hesitantly at Stiles, who was still gawking. Scott got the message almost immediately. Derek shook his head when Stiles looked back because of the pause in their conversation. "I don't mind," Derek said finally.

"You sure?" Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow. "I swear we won't mess anything up."

"Better not," Laura said, stepping through the doorway. She put a friendly hand on Isaac's shoulder. "My little brother here gets very picky about his space." Isaac laughed and nodded along with her before he noticed Derek's scowl aimed at him.

Scott and Stiles made their way into the living room and plopped down on the couch there. Before Derek could move to sit too, Isaac had nabbed the space on the couch next to Scott. Lydia and Laura took the two person couch next to them, and left Derek the comfortable reclining chair, as if that's what he wanted.

He sighed and went to sit before there was a knock at the door.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Cora probably lost her key."

When he opened the door, she shot in and immediately dove into Derek's recliner. "I forgot my key," she told everyone. Derek pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Now the only place left to sit was the smaller chair on the other side of the recliner, even farther away from Stiles’s spot on the couch.

"Well," Laura said, glancing at Cora, "what now?"

"Hadn't really thought that far ahead," Cora shrugged.

"Movie?" Isaac suggested, sneaking a look at Scott. He was fishing for any excuse to touch the other boy.

"We just got out of a movie," Lydia stated. "I'm too restless for another."

Just then, Derek saw a wicked gleam appear in Cora's eye. He knew what that meant.

"I've got the perfect idea," Cora stated.

"Cora," Derek warned. She was a troublemaker, after all.

"Relax, big bro, it's not illegal," she told him, waving a hand to dismiss him. "I'll be right back."

Cora dashed through the front door and ran out to her car. She really was back quickly, despite the heavy load she had in her arms.

Scott rose to help her, and took one pack of whatever it was from her. He sniffed, and made a sour face.

"What is this stuff?" He questioned. "It smells weird."

At Scott's remark, Isaac's eyes immediately shot to the package in Cora's hands. "You didn't," he said.

"I did," Cora winked. She looked at Scott, "It's a secret recipe beer."

"I thought wolves couldn't get drunk," Lydia stated, waiting for an explanation. Derek realized he had no idea how much she knew about werewolves.

"Not with normal stuff," Laura told her, putting a casual arm behind Lydia on the couch. "But with Cora's stuff, it's possible- and easy."

"Wolfsbane-laced," Scott said slowly. He put his package on the coffee table in arms reach of everyone. He seemed nervous to touch the package.

"Completely safe," she responded, and turned to Stiles. "Even for humans."

"Cool," Stiles said. He seemed completely okay with the beer.

"I love this stuff," Laura told everyone- mostly Lydia. "It doesn't taste all that different from actual beer."

"I'll try it," Lydia told her. She reached for the package and unwrapped it with steady hands. Inside the first one was about ten mason jars full of brownish, thick liquid.

"Gross-looking," Isaac said, grabbing a jar. "But it tastes fine." To prove his point, he ripped the lid off of it and took a large gulp. He offered the jar to Scott, who hesitantly took a sip from it as well.

Everyone took a jar for themselves, and drank a few sips to get used to the taste.

"Don't drink too much all at once," Laura said suddenly, a wicked look in her eyes. "You'll get drunk too quickly."

"Right," Stiles responded. He could already feel the effects of the beer because of how strong it was. It was strong enough for werewolves after all.

Derek was quiet, knowing she had something up her sleeve. Derek had to pointedly ignore Stiles every time the boy took a sip, to avoid watching his throat when he swallowed. Something about it made Derek's knees weak.

Scott and Isaac were already beginning to feel the fuzzy tingling of the wolfsbane as well. They were leaning into each other, and looked pretty comfortable too. Laura and Lydia had their arms around each other too. Lydia's arm encircled Laura's waist.

"Erica and Boyd should've come," Laura whined, "they would've had fun with us."

"They're like an old married couple," Isaac laughed. "But I wish they were here too."

"They wanted to go home and cuddle in private," Derek said. Everyone laughed and agreed with him.

"They can't be apart for more than an hour or else they'll go insane,” Isaac said, causing some more laughter and agreement.

Laura grinned. "That's like Cora's last relationship. They were inseperable."

“Until I realized he was an absolute idiot,” Cora replied, grinning.

“Speaking of absolute idiots, remember that guy with the long hair?” Laura was laughing already.

"Don't you dare," Cora stated. "It was a lapse in judgement that we aren't talking about."

"Aw come on," Lydia pleaded, "I've got to know."

"I don't wanna be the only one with embarrassing stories being told," Cora responded, though she was smiling.

"We'll all tell them," Scott promised. Stiles elbowed his best friend hard in the ribs. "Won't we?"

Stiles shook his head. "Nope. I refuse to relive those horrible dates."

“Everyone’s had their own rounds of dating stories. They’re meant to be told!” Laura exclaimed.

"Horrible dates?" echoed Derek. He didn't normally participate in these conversations.

"When Stiles thought he was straight," Scott replied before Stiles could slap him. It immediately embarrassing the boy.

"Scott!" he cried. "Come on, dude!"

"Oh please," Laura said, "we've all been a confused kid before we figured out what we wanted."

"I'm straight," Cora grinned.

"Besides her," Laura joked.

"Okay, the stories now?" Lydia demanded. "We can make it interesting."

Isaac sat up, away from Scott for a moment. "How so?"

"Every time you've had the same experience as someone else, you take a drink. It'll be fun."

Everyone chimed in their agreement. And so it began.

Cora told the story of the time her boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to take a werewolf hang-gliding. Imagining a young, female werewolf accidentally knocking birds out of the sky caused fits of laughter. The more stories that were told, the more everyone drank. Everyone shared at least two or three past relationship stories, and they were all having a good time before Stiles pointed an accusatory finger at Derek.

"You haven't told any stories yet!"

"You're right," Laura cried. "I almost forgot to force him."

Derek shook his head firmly. "I don't have anything to sha-"

"Liar!" Cora yelled. She also pointed a finger at him. "Or do I have to tell the story."

"That's not necessary," Derek responded immediately. He could feel the tips of his ears turning pink as he blushed. Now everyone would want to know.

"There's no way you won't tell us whatever that is," Isaac said, from his spot nestled into Scott's side.

Derek was still shaking his head. "I won't te-"

"I'll tell it," Laura interjected.

Derek put his face in his hands, totally dreading this. He had absolutely zero power to stop his sister from telling the most embarrassing story of his life. His sisters were a pain in his ass.

"So, Derek's got this crush on an intern for my mom, right?" Laura begins. Derek has to keep himself from screaming out in embarrassment. Isaac nods eagerly. Everyone's extremely interested in this story.

"He was only, what, 16?" Cora adds, looking to Laura for confirmation. Derek wants to sink into his chair. He's glad Laura stole the recliner so he hadn't been directly next to Stiles on the couch. He wouldn't have been able to stand it.

"Right," Laura affirms. "Anyways, she's like, 20-something, and totally _not_ into him for obvious reasons, but he's smitten. This is before he realized a very important fact."

Scott looked confused. "What fact?" Scott and Isaac were as confused as he was.

"Derek's gay as hell," Cora states, making everyone laugh harder than they had earlier. Derek wanted to die. He had his arms over his face to hide the tomato-red blush that was covering every inch of his face.

"But anyways, he thinks he's gonna win her over somehow. So my little brother here," she motions a hand to the ashamed Derek, "gathers every bit of courage he can. Which isn't very much considering that all he did was get her a shit ton of flowers and leave them all over her office."

"There were at least fifty bouquets," Cora adds. Then, laughing, "they were everywhere."

"Little does the poor baby Dere know, but the woman was deathly allergic to pollen from the particular flower that he ordered in most of them."

"Who's allergic to sunflowers?" Derek cried suddenly.

"Sunflowers?" Stiles shouted. "You got her sunflowers of all things?"

"I liked the way they looked," Derek said, covering his face again.

Everyone howled with laughter. Lydia was wiping tears from her eyes.

"You poor thing," Lydia said. "You almost killed her didn't you?"

"Nah, we dodged a bullet," Laura responded. "The intern's boyfriend went in there before and kept her from getting near the flowers."

"That's hilarious," Isaac stated. Everyone turned to Derek, who refused to remove his arms from his face.

"Best sixteen year old story ever," Stiles agreed, before turning his smiling face to look at Derek. Derek put his arms down by his side at that. He glanced almost shyly at Stiles, who was still laughing along with the others. Everyone had already moved on from his story anyways. But Derek must've stared a little too hard, because Stiles met his gaze. The boy grinned silently at Derek, no idea what it was doing to the werewolf's pulse.

"I've got plenty of my sister's stories," Derek suddenly said. He was feeling courageous. Both sisters were glaring so hard it could've killed a weaker man.

"Tell them," Lydia demanded.

The fun had finally gotten to Derek too. Before long, he was laughing and drinking along with everyone else. If they had paid attention, they all would've noticed how Cora calmly stopped drinking after a couple gulps. She was content watching everyone else.

The last thing Derek remembered clearly was Stiles's clear laughter ringing through his ears. Everyone else was almost in the background.

\---------------

Derek woke up in his own bed, with no recollection of how he'd gotten there. He stayed there, content for a few moments, staring into the dark. His head still felt a little fuzzy from the drink, which he could remember. He didn't know when everyone had gone off to bed, or really anything after he started joining in the conversation. Derek tried to picture how Stiles had looked, sitting comfortably on the couch. He wanted to remember it, to confirm that Stiles had been a part of his life enough to see Derek's home. It wasn't all in his imagination.

Derek was beginning to feel a little warm laying on his back the way he was, and went to roll over slowly. But the moment his shoulder almost left the bed, something groaned. Derek froze, immediately on alert. Though his mind wasn't exactly clear, he still had enough sense to check and see what had made the noise.

He lifted his head slowly off of the pillow, and glanced down the length of his own body. Wild strands of brown hair blocked his view, but Derek was suddenly aware of the weight on his left side. Stiles was sleeping deeply, pressed up against Derek’s body. Derek could smell his scent strongly now that he was actually paying attention.

Stiles groaned again, burying his face harder into Derek's chest. His leg was draped over Derek's, with their thighs touching under the covers. Had Derek been coherent enough, he would've been too hyper-aware of that fact to think of anything else. Had Stiles been coherent, it would've been the same predicament for him.

With a heavy sigh and an inability to resist sleep, Derek wrapped an arm around Stiles's back and shoulders. Their combined warmth made it hard for him to resist the drunken sleep that was consuming him. He had no idea what time it was, but he figured he could sleep a little longer.

Derek wasn't at all worried about the others. Some part of him knew they would be fine. Sometime before he fell back asleep, Derek's fingers had found themselves threaded through Stiles's hair. Neither of them were aware yet over how well they fit together.

\---------------

**[Many hours later, in the morning]**

Derek was mildly aware of the weight pressing into almost all of the front of his body. Sunlight threatened to blind him as he opened his eyes to find its source. He glared angrily at the window shades that he forgot to close whenever he went to bed last night. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to reclaim sleep.

A solid snore sounded from somewhere close to his neck. Derek's eyes snapped open when he realized that it wasn't him. He remembered Stiles and how he'd woken up to the boy sleeping on him sometime last night.

Stiles had shifted almost completely on top of Derek. Both of his legs were under the sheets between Derek's, he could tell by moving a slight amount and feeling them there. Stiles's arms were laid straight on either side of Derek’s body. Derek’s arm was casually draped around Stiles’s waist, and his other arm was gripping the sheets slightly beside the boy’s hip.

By now, the wolfs-bane in the beer had worn off. Derek's head pounded, but only because of his dehydration from the drink. He couldn't imagine the hangover Stiles would be waking up with. He wanted to get up and close the window so that Stiles could keep sleeping, but he couldn't force himself to move the younger man off of him. Derek almost felt guilty about wanting to enjoy Stiles's closeness a little longer.

Instead, he desperately tried to ignore the racing of his heart that seemed to increase with every steady breath from Stiles.

Stiles groaned again, muttering something inaudible, even for a werewolf. He opened a lazy eye, and Derek froze.

"Too bright," he moaned. The eye shut quickly. Stiles raised one hand to his face, and rubbed hard. He groaned again when it hurt his head.

Derek didn't say anything, too scared that Stiles didn't realize exactly where he was. He didn't want Stiles to be completely weirded out by the fact that they had slept so close.

"Derek," Stiles whined.

Derek's pulse skyrocketed. He tried to lay perfectly still and wait for Stiles to fall back asleep. He didn't. Derek was too caught up in realizing Stiles had said his name to think about his actual request.

"Please, the light," Stiles said. He attempted to move off of Derek, who was startlingly glad for the shift. He would never calm down if he didn't move away from Stiles's sleepy form. He removed himself from under Stiles, who had gone quiet. He tread lightly to the window, and closed the blinds as quietly as he could manage. He slipped out of his bedroom and into the living room, shutting the door just as quietly. Stiles was silent.

He had barely taken two steps before he noticed Scott and Isaac curled around each other on the couch. They were both laying on their sides on the couch, facing each other, and holding on pretty tightly to one another. Derek didn't want to disturb them, but he didn't have anywhere to go in his apartment. He had noticed the door to his guest room closed to the outside world. He could assume that Laura had holed up in there, but he had no idea where Lydia and Cora were.

He sat down at the kitchen counter where his phone was plugged in. When he turned it over, he noticed the sticky note stuck to the front of it. It was Cora's handwriting.

_Don't worry about me._

_Went home early bc everyone was tired._

_I made sure Stiles found his way into your room after you all got so wrecked._

_(You're welcome)_

_Love you!_

He made a mental note to always be kinder to Cora for this reason alone. He had her to thank for such a pleasant morning surprise. He was lost in thought, remembering the feeling of Stiles pressed up against him, when the two on the couch began to stir.

"Morning," he said quietly, when Isaac opened his eyes. Scott refused to budge, not that Isaac wanted him to.

"What time is it?" Isaac asked blearily. He had both arms nestled around Scott now. Derek figured he probably didn't even realize how protectively he was holding Scott.

"About nine," Derek replied. "You sleep okay?" He motioned to Scott's sleeping form.

Isaac looked down at Scott's face, and rested his chin on the top of his head before looking back at Derek. "The best sleep in ages."

"Me too," Derek replied.

Scott stirred, and Isaac loosened his hold a little to allow him some room. Scott rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Scott," Derek said gently, still sitting at the counter. Scott had to turn his head away from Isaac to see where Derek was in the room. He blinked a few times.

"Morning," Scott said. "Did you say it was nine?"

Isaac nodded, and Scott looked back at him. "Why are we awake?" he asked.

Isaac smiled, and Derek could tell that made him utterly happy. "Derek woke me, and I woke you."

"Sorry," Derek apologized. "The sun woke me. Blame nature."

"We've got time to sleep still," Isaac hinted, raising his eyebrows at Derek, who got the hint. He was happy to oblige.

Derek padded back into his bedroom, doing his best not to wake Stiles again. He crawled onto the edge of his bed and collapsed. It was an abnormally big bed, so it wasn't impossible for him to avoid touching Stiles. No matter how much he wanted to, Derek wouldn't want to risk hurting his head. He let Stiles sleep on.

The boy didn’t notice him at all, as sound asleep as he was.

Not too much time passed before he could hear the other boys moving around in the living room, so he walked back in there calmly, glad to be away from the temptations that Stiles provided.

"Welcome back," Scott said, more awake than he had been before. They both looked refreshed.

"To my own living room," he commented, smiling.

Scott shrugged, but smiled back. Isaac was in the kitchen looking through the cabinets. "What do you have to eat besides god knows how many power bars you have in here."

"I've got eggs and probably some pancake mix," Derek replied. "I think Laura put it in there a while ago."

"How old is it?" Isaac asked suspiciously, holding up the box.

"A few weeks, so it's fine."

"You make them?" Isaac said, already handing him the box. Derek glared sternly at him, but gave in and started opening it up.

Before long, pancake batter was cooking and Derek was just beginning to make the eggs when his guest room door opened. Out walked a very thoroughly-ravished looking Laura.

"Smells good," she commented, yawning. Her hair was a mess.

Lydia followed her out a few moments later. Even though they both looked obviously sleep-deprived, Lydia still had the same well put-together look that she had when Derek first met her. He could tell it was typical for her.

"How do you not have a hangover?" Derek asked curiously. He knew Stiles was definitely hungover.

"I didn't really drink that much," Lydia replied casually. She grinned at Laura.

Derek didn't reply. The four of them moved to sit at the counter, watching Derek finish. He was irritated that no one had offered at all to help. Deciding not to be difficult, he put about ten pancakes in a stack on a plate, alongside the enormous plate of eggs already on the counter.

"There's water and probably lemonade in the fridge. Help yourself." He already had his plate, so he moved over to the couch, and fell back into it. He had taken a good amount of the eggs, so even though it had seemed like too much, the five of them cleared the plate. All of the pancakes were eaten too. By now, everyone was fully awake. It was about ten, Derek guessed.

Scott's phone rang suddenly. He grabbed it and hint the answer button. His eyes widened when he realized who it was.

"Allison?" he stated, making everyone tense. Isaac especially, though he tried to look unaffected. He turned his back and began to wash a dish in the sink.

Scott listened some more, answering in one word replies. The volume was too low for anyone else to overhear.

"You're already back?" he asked slowly, as if not sure how to react. "I would've picked you up..."

Everyone was trying to ignore the call, but there wasn't much else to pay attention to. Isaac was washing the same dish still.

"I'll meet you there- no! Don't go to my house, alright? I'll meet you there." Scott said his goodbye, and hung up. He looked guiltily over to Isaac, who was still scrubbing the same dish. Both of them were extremely tense.

Scott was gazing mournfully at Isaac's back. "I have to go."

"Alright," Laura said, filling the silence. "I'm really glad you came."

"Me too," Scott said, still watching Isaac, who was pointedly ignoring him. "It's changed a lot for me."

He got up to leave, and Derek followed him to the door. Everyone chorused a goodbye except for Isaac who was still washing away.

Derek shut the door behind Scott, and for a moment there was an awkward silence. When Derek sat down, he heard the plate clatter into the bottom of the sink as Isaac gripped his face hard with both hands.

"I knew it was too early," he said, his voice muffled by his hands, "but it still hurts."

"Don't worry baby," Laura said, stepping around the counter and over to his side. "Scott felt something for you too, and you know it. Now you just have to wait for him to make up his mind, okay?" She was rubbing his back soothingly, and slowly Isaac's hands dropped back down to his sides.

"I kissed him." Isaac waited for that to sink in.

"What did he do?" Laura asked slowly.

There were a few tears sliding down his face, which he wiped angrily away. "He kissed me back."

Laura was silent. Lydia spoke instead. "He wouldn't have done that if he didn't know what it meant. Have faith in him, or at least try to, okay?"

"We've all noticed that it's not one-sided," Derek offered, not sure if this information would help. Laura gave a half-hearted smile to reassure Derek.

"I'm fine," Isaac said, "honestly. I just need to go."

"I can take you home," Lydia offered. "I have to go soon as well."

Laura looked sadly over at the redhead, who gave a small smile. "That's a great idea."

"I'd appreciate that," Isaac responded. The boy's earlier happiness had escaped him completely, and now he stood numbly, waiting for Lydia to finish eating.

"You ready?" she asked finally, standing up from the bar. Laura was leaning with her back against the chair next to Lydia when Isaac nodded. Lydia stood up a little bit on her toes to kiss Laura on the cheek before turning to Derek. "Thanks for having me."

"Anytime," he responded, giving them both a knowing look. Isaac didn't look shocked either.

"Bye," was all Isaac said as he followed Lydia out. The moment the door shut, Laura fell with a contented sigh onto the couch. She stared dreamily at the ceiling until Derek waved a hand above her face.

"That girl's amazing,” Laura said dreamily.

"I bet," Derek said.

"You have no idea," Laura started. "She's even better in bed-"

"Laura, please no." Derek did not want details of his sister's version of the night. All he wanted to do was go in and check on Stiles again, but knew he shouldn't. He glanced warily at the door, wondering if everyone had managed to stay quiet. Laura looked from him to the door, wondering until she was struck with realization.

"Stiles is in there?"

Derek nodded slowly.

"You slept with him?"

"We slept in the same bed," Derek explained, but Laura was already jumping up from the couch. She held his shoulder firmly so he couldn't back away as she sniffed his neck.

"You smell like Stiles."

Shit, Derek thought. He could smell Stiles's lingering scent as well, and it did little to soothe his anxious feelings. He wanted to make sure Stiles was okay.

Laura got the hint almost immediately. She winked at him. "I'll leave you two then..."

"You’re misunderstan-"

"-It's okay baby brother, I know when I'm not wanted..."

"No, really Laura he's hungove-"

Laura shushed him. "It'll wear off soon. It just takes a bit for humans."

Derek's mouth snapped shut. He pinched the bridge of his nose, but Laura laughed happily beside him.

"You need excitement today too. I had mine last night. Your turn."

Derek immediately went red, making Laura laugh a little harder. She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway.

"Don't forget about the banquet," she said. "It's important to mom."

"It's Monday," Derek reminded her. "The banquet's not till Friday."

"Just making sure," was all Laura said before she closed the door. He listened to her footsteps retreating down the hallway before he got up and locked the door behind her.

Derek wanted to avoid the bedroom at all costs. He knew that, if he went back in to check on Stiles, he would most likely take advantage of the boy. He didn't want to do that and ruin any chance- no matter how minuscule- that he had. So, Derek spent the next hour or so doing meaningless activities.

First, he attempted to do a little cleaning up around the living room. The pack had left a lot of stuff just laying around. They knew he'd clean it up. Next, Derek tried to lose himself in whatever was currently playing on TV, but that didn't numb his mind at all. He still had raging thoughts about the way Stiles was casually sleeping in his bed. Derek never let people stay in his room. It was his space, and he needed a place that smelled predominantly of himself. Even though Stiles’s scent was all over the room now, Derek still felt like it was his. It pleased him to have Stiles in there.

After a few more attempts at mindless actions, Derek was beginning to give up on staying out of his bedroom. Just then, the door creaked open and out waddled a very tired-looking Stiles.

"My head hurts," Stiles explained. Derek could tell that he was in pain.

"I've got Tylenol," Derek offered. "Laura said this'll wear off in a few hours."

"Good," Stiles moaned. "I've never felt so awful in my life..."

Derek felt guilty. He had let Cora dish out those drinks. He wanted to kick himself for not warning Stiles that it could impact him differently than the werewolves.

"Sorry," Derek replied after a slight pause.

Stiles shook his head before he realized what a bad idea that was. He winced, but then spoke. "It's not your fault. Besides, it was fun."

Derek silently agreed. He'd gotten to have his time with Stiles. He couldn't possibly have asked for more.

"Fuck," Stiles said, putting a hand over his eyes. "I forgot to call my dad before I-er, went to bed last night."

There was an unspoken connotation in that moment. Or at least, Derek perceived it that way. He wasn't sure if Stiles was actually comfortable with the fact that they'd slept so close together. Hell, he wasn't even sure if Stiles really remembered it.

"I'll call him for you, if you want," Derek offered, thinking about Stiles's headache.

"If you don't mind," Stiles said slowly. "I'll get all my stuff while you're doing that."

Derek immediately looked alarmed. He didn't like the idea of Stiles driving with a wolfsbane-induced hangover. And besides that, he'd figured Stiles would stay until he felt better.

"You don't have to go," Derek said simply. Stiles was holding his head in his hands, indicating the pain. "I'll tell your dad you're hanging here for the day, so go back to bed or something."

"That'd be great if you're okay with that..." Stiles trailed off, but his gaze rose to meet Derek's. Both of them were attempting to hide their hopeful expressions, so neither noticed the other's.

Derek looked longingly at the boy standing in the doorway of his bedroom. "It's no problem at all."

Without a word, Stiles smiled weakly at Derek and then backed up into the bedroom again. He left the door open, much to Derek's surprise. As soon as he was sure Stiles was back in bed, he picked up his cell phone and dialed the station and asked for Sheriff Stilinski.

 _"Hello?_ " the sheriff said, when he answered.

"It's Derek Hale," the wolf replied, "I'm just calling to-"

_"Oh, thank goodness. Stiles is with you, right? I couldn't get a hold of him this morning after he told me you all were staying at your house for the night."_

"So Stiles did tell you?" Derek asked, wondering to himself when exactly this happened.

"He texted me last night, yes. But I didn't know when he'd want to go home."

"I'm just checking to make sure it's okay with you for him to stay and hang out a little longer."

 _"It's perfectly fine,_ " the sheriff said. _"But why didn't he tell me this?"_

Derek had to think for a quick moment. He didn't really know what to say. "Stiles has a bit of a headache right now."

_"I see," John replied, "Thanks for letting me know."_

"Of course," Derek told him. "Have a nice day."

_“You too.”_

After that phone call, Derek figured he'd taken care of all of the immediate problems. He settled on the recliner and picked up a book to read. Stiles slid slowly out of the bedroom and stood a few feet away from the door. He watched Derek for a moment, before the other man raised an eyebrow.

"If you want your room back, it's fine," Stiles said quietly.

"You can keep using it," Derek suggested. "I'm fine here."

Stiles nodded, and went back into the room. Derek didn't hear him crawl into bed though. Stiles returned to the living room, this time with Derek's comforter wrapped around him. It was an enormously puffy navy blue comforter, that was really comfortable. Derek loved that thing, and loved it even more that Stiles did too. He was happy to see the boy curl up on the couch next to the reclining chair where Derek was.

Stiles's feet were barely touching the armrest closest to Derek, and his head was propped up so that he could see Derek without lifting his head. After all, it hurt to move his head too much, but he wanted to observe Derek in his own home.

Derek and Stiles sat in comfortable silence. Stiles studied Derek thoroughly as he read through endless pages in his book. Stiles couldn't help it, really. He was still a little mind-numb from his headache. It was affecting him in peculiar ways, so he just stared and stared at Derek until he began to drift off. Before long, he had fallen asleep again. Derek knew how uncomfortable that couch was, and was worried about Stiles waking up in a sore position. Before he really thought it through, he had risen from his chair and moved over to Stiles. He put one arm under the boy's back, and the other underneath his knees and lifted him from the couch.

With the younger boy cradled in his arms, he found himself listening to Stiles's heartbeat. It was steady and soothing to the wolf's ears, and it didn't seem like the boy was going to wake any time soon. Derek began to make his way back into his bedroom now. He would get the comforter after he set Stiles down.

He set Stiles as gently as he could on the bed, and studied his sleeping face. He knew it would be slightly creepy if Stiles had been awake, but he couldn't help taking it in.

Derek shook himself solidly once, and turned to go back into the living room when Stiles grabbed his hand. Derek's head turned frantically to see what was wrong, but relaxed when he saw that Stiles's eyes were still lidded and sleepy.

"Don't go," Stiles said, pleading a little. Derek had no idea what to do; Stiles hadn't let go of his hand yet, and it made him weak. 

"I'll just be in the living room," Derek told him. It really wasn't that far away.

"That's too far," Stiles stated, eyes beginning to close. His grip on Derek's hand slacked a little, and Derek felt himself wish it hadn't. "Stay in here."

"For a little while," Derek agreed. Stiles mumbled something inaudible and settled back down. His eyes closed completely this time, and Derek waited for a moment, thinking him to be asleep.

But the boy sat up suddenly, launching himself into an upright position dangerously close to Derek.

A quick note: You see, Stiles isn't in his right mind. But the only thing really happening to him is that he's wickedly exhausted. His headache has gone away completely, leaving him tired. He's so tired, that he thinks everything he's experiencing is a dream. He'd never imagine that he'd end up in Derek's house, let alone his bed. So it couldn't possibly be real, right?

Anyways, Derek immediately froze as Stiles invaded his space. Stiles put his hand on Derek's knee, and leaned a little bit closer as he studied the ground where Derek's feet were. Derek was anxiously waiting for Stiles to lay back into the bed, but the boy persisted. After only a moment, Stiles looked up into Derek's face. There was only a few inches between their faces now, and Derek could truly feel the tension building in his chest. Before he could decide what to do, Stiles had closed the distance and was kissing the stubble along Derek's chin.

Derek's heart went wild in that moment, and he thought he was going to die it was pounding so hard. Stiles, on the other hand, was pleasantly enjoying a dream with full motor control.

Derek closed his eyes tightly, willing himself not to move. Though, it was difficult for him to ignore the incredibly attractive boy working his mouth over Derek's skin. Stiles gave a disappointed whine, still kissing around Derek's jaw. His mouth moved slowly along its path, kissing and licking down Derek's neck. It was a maddeningly slow pace for Derek, who was barely hanging on to his sanity.

Stiles was having the time of his life as well, not that Derek picked up on that. He was joyfully (yet sleepily) tonguing the space behind Derek's ear. Derek was losing his resolve, and tilting his head back and moaning a little. Stiles took that as an invitation- it was his dream after all- and moved quickly lower to run his mouth over Derek's collar bone.

It's not... Derek was trying to piece together a coherent thought, It's not fair to Stiles...

His will was completely broken the more Stiles did with his mouth. It was raising intense goosebumps on Derek's body. Stiles's hand moved upwards from his knee to grasp Derek's thigh firmly. That, combined with Stiles's lazy kisses, he raised his head to meet Derek's.

Stiles moved immediately to kiss Derek, who had given up waiting. Stiles's mouth parted a split second after, and his tongue found its way into Derek's mouth. Derek wasted no time in moving to get a better angle. He grasped at Stiles's arms and pulled the willing boy closer and almost into his lap as Stiles began to move more frantically.

Instead of the sleepy pace that he had begun with, Stiles was sucking and licking into Derek's kiss with a new vigor. Derek's vision swam enough from pure shock that he closed his eyes and focused only on Stiles.  The boy was almost sideways in his lap with his head turned in order to keep contact with Derek's mouth.

Stiles pulled away from Derek, making the older man panic for a split second, before Stiles threw his leg around Derek's hip and rose onto his knees, straddling him. Derek barely had time to react before Stiles was kissing him again.

Stiles didn't have to work as hard in the kiss this time, thanks to Derek's loss of resolve. The older man was fully kissing back now, much to Stiles's delight. Stiles felt the hot, wet slide of Derek's tongue against his bottom lip, and he readily opened his mouth for him again. He gasped when Derek roughly grabbed his waist to steady the boy on his lap. Stiles threw his arms over Derek's shoulders and threaded his fingers through the black hairs at the base of his neck.

Suddenly Derek felt too hot and uncomfortable in his clothes. Stiles apparently felt the same, and was desperately pulling at the bottom of his shirt. He was having trouble removing it due to Derek's distracting mouth, so Derek grasped it for him and pulled away from Stiles’s mouth long enough to get his shirt over his head and tossed to the floor. Stiles pulled Derek's off as quickly as he could as well.

Derek wasn't able to think about where his shirt had gone before Stiles was sucking hard on the base of Derek's neck. The lack of clothing separating their upper halves made Stiles’s mind go crazy as well, and their pace was gradually changing into something more… desperate.

With all the gentleness he could muster, Derek lifted Stiles off of his lap completely and laid him flat on his back, detaching the mouth from his neck. Derek put one knee in between Stiles's legs and leaned down without any thought. He was too wrapped up in the way Stiles looked underneath him. Pale skin with freckles dotted everywhere filled every inch of Derek’s mind.

Derek kissed his neck this time, enjoying the taste and the smell and the way Stiles was moaning into his movements. The smell of arousal, heavy and thick filled the room.

Derek hadn't realized how much of a hard on he'd had until Stiles bucked underneath him and the boy's own erection rubbed against Derek’s thigh. Stiles's hands found their way to Derek's back, and slid their way down to the curve of his ass which made Derek go mad. He bit harder than he intended on Stiles's neck, and felt guilty knowing that would most likely bruise later.

Stiles whined again as Derek tried to pull away. Derek remained hovering unsteadily, a few inches above him, trying to decide his next course of action when Stiles arched his back and their erections rubbed hard each other's legs at the same time. Both of them gasped heavily, and before they knew it Stiles was arching again underneath Derek. They moved together, seeking any possible friction. Derek kissed desperately at the corners of Stiles's mouth as his cock rubbed against Stiles's through both of their pants.

Stiles cursed himself for forgetting to remove their pants before this.

Both of them were grasping each other tight enough to hurt, but neither of them noticed as they were still grinding into each other. Stiles forgot to kiss Derek back as he suddenly froze and his body went taut beneath Derek. He fingers sought purchase along the smooth muscle of Derek’s back.

"Fuck," he moaned, pressing his fingers into Derek’s skin. “I can’t-”

Derek silenced him with a hard kiss, and neither of them really put much effort into it as they focused on the quickening pace of their grinding.

Derek saw red as Stiles came beneath him, and the smell of the boy’s cum invaded his senses. Derek came quickly after Stiles had, and both of them stayed the way they were, panting. The stickiness in Derek's pants was irritating him, and he knew it was probably doing the same for Stiles. 

Stiles pressed his mouth slowly up against Derek’s that moved in response. Derek wasn’t sure how to react now, after he was beginning to realize what he’d just done to a basically defenseless Stiles.

Even now, Stiles seemed to be getting sleepy again. But he persisted in his chase of Derek’s lips. He was no longer sure how real this was, but Stiles wanted to revel in it for as long as he could. Derek broke away from the kiss and meant to move away. But when he saw Stiles’s hurt expression, he couldn’t bear to do it. He pressed his face into the boy’s neck gently, just inhaling his scent.

It had changed slightly. Stiles smelled even better to Derek than he had before, if that was possible.

Derek moved away from Stiles, determined to get himself out of this situation. He was utterly terrified at the thought of Stiles realizing what he'd just done and being utterly disgusted. He didn't want to be around when Stiles had that sort of a look on his face.

Stiles, despite how tired he was beginning to feel, sat up and reached for Derek's retreating body. "Where are you going?" He asked simply.

"Living room," Derek replied, completely turned away from Stiles. He also wanted to change out of his sticky clothes.

"Why?"

"I need to change."

"Oh," Stiles says. He's sort of delirious. "Me too." Neither of them move for a second. Derek eventually rises from the bed, and goes over to his drawer. He has an extra pair of shorts and boxers that'll fit Stiles, he thinks, and he goes to change in the bathroom, when he returns, Stiles is sitting up in bed. Derek hands him the clothes, and turns around so that the boy can change. It takes an agonizingly long time before Derek is allowed to turn around again.

"Will you sit for a while?" Stiles asked, blinking hard to keep his eyes open. Derek obliged, though still keeping his distance. 

"I'm going to go in the other room," Derek said quietly. He attempted to stand again, but Stiles reached out for him again, this time actually managing to grab onto his arm.

He just stayed where he was, perched near the edge of the bed. Stiles was holding onto his elbow hard. It was probably the only thing keeping Derek from fleeing.

"Please don't," Stiles pleaded. Derek was frightening Stiles without knowing it. Even though the boy believed it to be a dream, he didn't want Derek to run away from him.

Derek shut his eyes tightly, searching for some excuse good enough to justify running out of the room. He couldn't believe how cowardly he was acting. He just didn't want Stiles to regret this later. But the boy was begging him to stay, and Derek was never one to resist Stiles, was he? 

He turned to look at Stiles, taking in the boy laying in his bed. Stiles hair was completely wild and flattened in odd places, and his cheeks had a familiar rosy pink flush. Derek watched the steady rise and fall of Stiles's chest, vaguely remembering the shirts they had left on the floor. He forgot them quickly when he noticed the reddish mark he had made on Stiles's neck just below his jawline. Derek liked seeing it there, because it meant that he really had been kissing Stiles the way he'd wanted to since they first met. 

Derek cautiously moved back up the bed, next to Stiles, and laid down on his back. He was farther away this time, not touching Stiles at all. Happily, and half asleep, Stiles crawled over to him and settled down laying against Derek's side. Derek was unable to move as Stiles positioned himself comfortably, pressing up against Derek wherever he could.

In one last effort to be as close to Derek as humanly possible, Stiles threw his right arm over Derek's torso and his right leg hooked over Derek's leg. Without a single word, Stiles sighed in content and fell asleep. Derek had exhausted himself too, without realizing it. He couldn't deny how comfortable he was with Stiles, despite how scared he was at the moment. He somehow knew that Stiles would be there when he woke up, so he let himself drift off as well.

Sometime during their nap, Derek had clutched Stiles tighter to him. Stiles's hand was grasping Derek's free hand as they slept on. Derek didn’t even realize that his favorite comforter was still in the living room on the couch where Stiles had left it.


	6. The Evening After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that I haven't updated recently.  
> You guys wouldn't believe the stuff that's been going on after my out-of-country trip ended.  
> Anyways, forgive me because I plan to post a ton of new chapters very soon...

Stiles had never slept so perfectly in his life. Of course, he'd never shared a bed with an extremely handsome man like this before, which was probably the reason for such a good nap. This was a totally new experience for Stiles- waking up with someone sleeping beside him. Even when Scott had stayed the night, they had never shared a bed. They just hadn't thought about it.

So, Stiles had never slept with someone before. And he had definitely never had anyone so _close_.

They were laying excruciatingly close, which he realized as he noticed the body heat warming the front of his body. His cheek was pressed against Derek’s chest, and Stiles moved his head a tiny amount to glance around and take in exactly how close they were. With a little bit of embarrassment, Stiles also realized that his left leg was hooked over Derek’s. At least he hadn’t done anything _more_ stupid like throwing his arm over the man’s chest.

His mind was hit with a few images from the wicked dream he'd had last night.

He remembered how hard he'd had to fight for Derek to react to Stiles’s excited probing, which was unfair because shouldn't Stiles be in control of his own fantasies? It was a good dream, sure, but that didn’t explain how he’d gotten away with having filthy dreams laying next to the one guy on earth that was actually in them. Considering that, Stiles sat up and attempted to move slowly away from Derek's side.

Before he could really process anything else, Derek's eyes opened sleepily to see why he had been disturbed. When the older man took in Stiles's distress (at being caught), he seemed to wake startlingly fast.

 _Nothing gets past those stupid werewolf senses,_ Stiles thought. He had experience on that subject. He was caught, so he waited to see what the man’s reaction would be. Surely Derek would come to his senses and kick him out.

"You're awake?" Derek asked finally.

 _What?_ Stiles thought. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. He only nodded in response.

"The wolfsbane wore off?" Derek asked. Stiles couldn’t read Derek’s expression, as simple as it seemed.

So, he nodded again, remembering the drinking that went on last night. "I don't remember much," he confessed.

"Ah," Derek said. He seemed like he didn't know what to do with that information.

Stiles rubbed his neck, trying to think of what to say to make his escape seem less guilty. "I'm sorry for crashing your bed." His hand rubbed up his neck further, and he jumped a little when he felt the bruise on his neck. "What the _hell_?"

"What?" Derek asked, wincing.

"What the hell did I do to my neck?" Stiles asked, pointing to the bruise that was already sort-of fading. It still hurt a little though.

"Oh," Derek answered slowly. "I did that, sorry."

"You did that?" Stiles asked, equally as slow.

Derek nodded, and suddenly looked extremely nervous. Stiles's heart was beating painfully. A few seconds later and he realized why; in his dream hadn't Derek kissed his neck a little _hard_? Stiles felt his world crashing.

Derek swallowed hard, his throat suddenly closing. "I'm sorry," he said, "you were kissing me and I let myself get a little carried away."

"That was real?"

Derek nodded in answer to the boy's question. He was dreading Stiles's reaction, and kept himself from sitting up and facing the boy, He didn’t want to make any wrong moves. "I'm sorry, really, it won't happen again. So don't worry."

Stiles almost didn’t hear his comment. "I thought it was a dream," he moaned. "I thought it was strange you didn't notice me having a fucking sex dream in the middle of the night..."

"Not a dream," Derek confirmed. He was too nervous to say much else.

Stiles put his head in his hands and continued to think hard. After a few beats, he looked up quickly and met Derek's unsteady gaze. "I forced myself on you, didn't I?"

"Sti-What?- No!" Derek couldn't spit out a coherent sentence.

"What have I done?” Stiles was spiraling. It started to make sense why Derek hadn’t been responsive at the beginning of Stiles’s… _dream._ And the worst part was, now he was sure Derek knew how he felt. That was scarier than anything else.

"Stop," Derek ordered, making both himself and Stiles cringe at his tone. "I'm sorry that I took advantage of you. There's no reason to worry if it’s upsetting you this much, I won’t do it anything so just calm down."

"Taking advantage of me?" Stiles echoed, lost.

"You were under the influence of extremely strong alcohol and wolfsbane. It's not your fault for doing things you didn't mean to." Derek was offering him a way out of the awkward situation, and was surprised when Stiles didn't take it.

"It's not that I didn't mean to," Stiles said, his voice quieting. "I just didn't mean to now."

Derek understood the implication immediately, but didn't trust himself to ask. He couldn't handle having Stiles still so close to him. In fact, Stiles had only sat up, so their legs were still pressed together as Derek was laying back against a pillow. Stiles was practically leaning over him.

Derek, in an attempt to fix whatever had gone wrong here, suggested grabbing something to eat. Stiles, as eager as Derek to escape the situation, complied.

They stood for a few minutes as Derek shuffled through the cabinets. Stiles looked curiously over to the clock. He held in the impulse to scream as he checked the time.

"Shit, it's almost seven." Stiles explained, when Derek noticed his panic.

Derek put a hand to his forehead. "Your dad's going to murder me."

"Me too," Stiles stated.

They paused for a second, before Stiles started laughing. Derek could only stare at him, bewildered. Stiles had to sit down for a moment, so he just collapsed, still laughing, onto the tiled floor of Derek's kitchen. He pulled his knees closer to his chest and tried to stop the fits of laughter bubbling up.

The situation was just too odd for Stiles. They were worried about Stiles’s dad catching them in the aftermath of a weird day. They hadn’t had sex, so there wasn’t a real reason to be worried.

Meanwhile, Derek didn't know what to do with the boy laughing hysterically on the floor.

He wondered if Stiles was having some sort of break down. He asked if Stiles was alright.

"I'm fine," Stiles choked out. "This is just so absurd."

When he realized Derek was still utterly confused, Stiles began to quiet. "This is a mess."

"Agreed." Derek replied simply.

"I should probably go, so we both don't have the wrath of Sheriff Stilinski. Wouldn't want him to kill the guy I just slept with."

Derek's entire body went on alert when Stiles finished, after all, he’d just referred to Derek as the guy he’d “slept with”, whether they’d actually done anything or not. It almost excited him to hear that.

He watched as the boy half-heartedly gathered the little amount of things that he had brought with him. Derek was undeniably sad to have Stiles leave so soon.

Derek followed Stiles awkwardly to the door, and held it open for him. When he realized how that looked, Derek immediately tried to think of something to say that would convey that he didn't regret what they did. It seemed like Derek was just trying to get Stiles out of his house, which he didn't. He just wanted Stiles to know how he felt, but he didn't want the boy to be pressured.

"Oh, crap," Stiles said, remembering something. He motioned to his neck, where the hickey stood out prominently. "My dad'll kill me if he sees this thing." He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"It _is_ cold out," Derek said quickly. He grabbed a scarf from the hook behind the door. There were only a few old scarves and jackets hanging there, so it wasn't anything that he was going to miss.

"I did lose my jacket at the park," Stiles replied. "I'll bring it back to you?" It was a weighted question. They both knew it, but Derek knew he couldn't afford to mess up after the awkwardness that had transpired.

"You can bring it here whenever you can," Derek said, hoping he had hinted enough of his eagerness to have Stiles come back.

"I will, then," Stiles said, shuffling awkwardly out the door. Derek stood holding the door with one hand. Stiles was still facing him as he backed out the door.

“When did you lose your jacket?” Derek asked, seeking just a few more moments of contact.

“I just left it there I think. I don’t really remember.”

“Ah,” Derek replied.

Stiles slipped farther into the hallway. Derek was still just holding the door open, not sure what he was waiting for.

"Wait," the boy said suddenly. "So I kissed you?"

"Yes," Derek replied. He was unsure of what Stiles was getting at.

"You kissed me back?"

Derek nodded. Before he could process the question, or even think about why he'd ask such a strange one, Stiles had practically jumped forward. His lips found Derek's and were gone too quickly. Derek hadn't even been able to kiss him back. He almost whined he was so disappointed. The look on his face almost made Stiles laugh.

"See you," Stiles called, as he retreated down the hallway to the front entrance. Derek was left standing in his doorway, brain refusing to cooperate. Every instinct in his body was telling him to run out that door and drag Stiles back into his room and lock the door.

Derek had to force himself back inside. He'd slept a lot that day, plus a lack of Stiles would make it hard to sleep. So, he turned on the TV and settled into the couch. He was desperately recalling every memory of every single thing that had happened between the two of them since they went to bed together. Derek had never been happier, really.

\-----------

"You have no idea what just happened to me," Stiles said into his phone. _Or rather, what I just did._  Stiles had called Scott as soon as he was close to his own neighborhood.

Stiles waited for the energetic response that always greeted him when he called Scott. When Scott asked about it, it wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

"What's wrong?" Stiles asked. He knew something was going on with his best friend.

 _"I've just decided some things,"_ Scott replied. _"Don't worry."_

"Talk to me," Stiles demanded. "You always feel better when you talk it out."

 _"I've decided-"_ Scott broke off for a moment, and there was a momentary silence. When he continued, Stiles had already walked in the door. His dad wasn't home yet, so he made a beeline for his room. He made it just before Scott continued. _"I think I'm going to break up with Allison."_

 _Woah,_ thought Stiles. _That's not what I was expecting at all._

"Because of Isaac, right?" Stiles asked gently. He hoped he came off as supportive of his friend as he was.

" _Yes. I think there's something wrong with me."_

"What? You're an idiot, of course not," Stiles stated.

_"I just can't get him out of my head. It's just so... not right, because I'm with Allison!"_

Stiles was quiet. He wanted to give his best friend room to speak his mind. He settled on his bed. Something just made Stiles feel like Scott just wanted to talk to someone else about this, so that he didn't feel like he was making the wrong decision. Stiles understood that perfectly.

 _"I think I love him,"_ Scott said quietly. Stiles turned the volume up on his phone just in case. _"I don't know how much, but I think I really do."_

"You can't help that," Stiles said. "It's not something you can control."

_"I just thought it would be Allison, you know? Someone I knew. Someone safe."_

"I think Isaac's safe too. Especially because we already know he loves you too."

Stiles knew it, Scott knew it, everyone knew it. Isaac was pretty obvious in his affection for Scott. It was understandable that Scott would be nervous about the subject, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind over whether or not Isaac would actually want to be with Scott.

" _You think?_ " Scott asked slowly.

"Definitely," Stiles responded. He couldn’t believe that Scott wasn’t sure of that. "If you feel this way about Isaac, and you know it's strong, it's a good thing you're going to be honest with yourself and save Allison any heartbreak."

" _Thanks,_ " Scott answered. Stiles was glad that Scott was doing okay. Something in him had panicked a little when Scott had sounded so upset. Some part of him still didn't know how to handle when people were unhappy. He was learning, sure, but it didn't help that he still got extremely nervous dealing with it.

"Yeah," Stiles responded.

 _"Wait, what did you want to tell me?"_ Scott asked, remembering the way Stiles had started their conversation.

"Ah," Stiles was reminded of his earlier excitement. "I, uh, kissed Derek."

 _“How much?”_ Stiles found it odd that this was Scott's initial reaction to news that Stiles thought of as huge. Apparently it wasn't so shocking.

Stiles tried to think of an easy answer. “A lot.”

 _"Finally,"_ Scott said, chuckling. _"We were making bets over how long it'd take you idiots."_

"What?" Stiles asked, wondering if he'd heard right. "Everyone knew?"

_"Dude, we could literally see the sexual tension between you two. Plus, we could all smell it too."_

"That's impossible," Stiles stated.

_"No, you guys are just blind."_

"Whatever," Stiles said. "I figured it out for myself." He thought for a moment. "Sort-of?"

 _"I can't believe you let me moan to you about Isaac before you told me this,"_ Scott said, chuckling so that Stiles knew he was kidding.

Stiles sat up from his bed quickly as his dad walked into his room. The look on the sheriff's face was clear: get off the phone. Stiles knew the reason he was probably in trouble, so he didn't panic.

As much.

"No worries. But hey, my dad needs me so I'll talk to you later, alright?" Scott understood, and they both hung up. He looked at his dad expectantly.

His dad didn't say anything for a moment. He only stared hard into Stiles's face, thinking. Stiles was beginning to grow nervous, unsure of exactly how angry his dad would be when he asked Stiles where he'd been the entire day.

"When did you get home?" The sheriff asked. The lines on his face were clearer than ever. His dad looked tired, and his uniform was wrinkled and dirty looking. It was unlike his dad to look so unkempt.

He must've really been worried, Stiles thought.

"A few minutes ago," Stiles said. "I'm sorry, I know I should've been home sooner-"

A wave of his dad's hand cut him off.

"Stiles, I don't know how to tell you this," he said. Stiles was beginning to sweat, dreading whatever was making his father so upset. The entire conversation was beginning to seem very ominous.

"Dad, tell me what's wrong," Stiles pleaded. He hated this. The boy's hands were beginning to shake, he was so nervous.

"A woman was killed tonight, in our neighborhood."

"Who?" Stiles croaked, shutting his eyes.

"We haven't identified her yet, but she was left in front of our house."

"Our... house?" Stiles echoed, not fully comprehending.

His dad nodded, though Stiles's eyes were still shut. The sheriff rubbed his face, thinking hard again. "We found your jacket draped over her."

"No," Stiles said. "No."

"I'm sorry, son," his dad replied. He moved to sit next to Stiles on the bed and hugged him tightly. "The medical examiners believe it was an animal attack, but we're not sure quite yet."

Stiles had lost every ability in his body to move or speak. Nothing was making sense to him anymore.

"Did you draw on your jacket?" His dad asked. Stiles shook his head slowly, eyes still shut. "She must've found it and drawn some kind of symbol on it. But Stiles, I just had to make sure you were alright before I went back to settle this."

Stiles didn't answer; he couldn't. Something finally clicked in his mind, and he drew a shuddering breath. He opened his eyes to stare at the ground in front of him, when his vision began to swim. Images, one after the other began tearing through his mind, stealing his attention, unwillingly, away from his dad and the attack. All he could see was memories of Theo, one after the other rushing past his eyes.

He relived everything in a split second. He saw Theo lashing out at him for the first time in anger. He saw the chain of events that led up to him attempting to break away from Theo completely. He saw the trail of dead animals that Theo had left after that, leading  up to the slaughter of an innocent man to prove his point.

Stiles wasn't sure when he had started sobbing, but he wasn't aware of anything else after the moment he realized he couldn’t control it.

When he abruptly stopped shaking, his father lifted his head only to discover that Stiles had blacked out and was hanging limply in his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a cliffhanger huh?   
> I SWEAR I'm gonna keep posting more frequently


	7. Long Night

When his father realized that Stiles had lost consciousness, he pulled back the covers of the boy's bed and set him down gently. He tucked Stiles into bed- something he hadn't done in ages- and turned off the light. Just for a moment, he stood in the doorway. He gazed at his son for a few moments before turning and retreating into his own room for the night.

The sheriff had known that the news was going to be difficult for Stiles to hear. It was too similar to the cases they'd dealt with a little more than a year ago. It had been so long that everyone at the police department had put away the old files to make room for new ones. He remembered how difficult it had been back then for Stiles to listen to news of the deaths. 

He had been expecting all kinds of bad reactions from Stiles, but he hadn't imagined this one. Stiles had cried  _hard_ into his arms, and then blacked out from the weight of his emotions. It made the sheriff worry even harder knowing that Stiles would still have to wake up and hear about the woman on the news.

John Stilinski, the caring father that he is, checked in on his son periodically for the next few hours. Around ten o'clock, when he was sure that Stiles was going to continue resting, he decided to get some sleep himself.

His father caught a few hours of sleep before the first wave of nightmares hit Stiles. He cried out loudly and desperately, thrashing around in his bed. Old habits die hard, right? His father came running in to wake him up, and Stiles opened his tired eyes to stare blankly back at him. 

Each time he woke, the sheriff would wait patiently with his son, comforting him however he could, until he slipped back into restless sleep.

"I'm sorry," Stiles croaked once, sometime in between the cycles. His dad was sitting on the edge of the bed closest to him.

"You don't need to be sorry," the sheriff replied. Stiles knew his dad would answer this way, and was grateful that he had a dad so understanding. 

A few moments of silence after that, and the tired sheriff realized his son had fallen asleep again.

"You'll be okay," he said quietly, touching his boy's face. He wasn't sure who he was talking to in that moment.

They were both just trying to make it through the night.

\---------------

**[In the morning]**

Stiles woke up earlier than his dad. The last thing he wanted to do was wake his dad again, so he tried to hang around in bed for as long as he could before he couldn't take it anymore.

His stomach growled a few times, and he reluctantly wandered into the kitchen. He shuffled around in the cabinets, looking for something easy to eat and settled on a few granola bars. He swallowed them down, despite the uncomfortable soreness in his throat and forced himself to drink a little water.

Because it was still about 6 AM, he decided to do a little more waiting in his room so that his dad could actually sleep a little more. A few hours passed of Stiles staring blankly at a book he'd found under his bed until he heard his father moving around in the kitchen.

Released, finally, from his room, Stiles walked slowly into the kitchen to greet his dad.

"Good morning," his father said, to initiate conversation. "You hungry?"

"Already ate," Stiles replied. 

"Ah," John said, wondering just how long Stiles had been awake.

They sat in comfortable silence until they both noticed the noise gradually increasing outside. The sheriff, dreading what he was about to find, got up from the breakfast table and walked into the front hall. He peeled back the curtains slightly on one side of the window and groaned.

"Looks like we've got a swarm of our own this time," the sheriff said. "Though, I don't know what they want so early in the morning."

"They heard about it that quickly?" Stiles asked, referring to the swarm of reporters that his father indicated were gathering outside.

"I'll never know how they get their information so quickly. I thought it would be kept quiet for a little longer."

His dad let go of the curtain and followed Stiles back into the kitchen to sit down. Already, the reporters were crawling around the backyard, seeking a way to tell if there was anyone awake in the house. In Beacon Hills, the reporters took their jobs very seriously, and would go to many unnecessary lengths just to get a story out ahead of their competition.

"I can call a few people in from the department to keep them off our yard at least," his dad offered. "That way they're not bothering you completely."

Stiles nodded his head and muttered a quick "thank you," and then studied the glass table in front of him. When he got tired of that and glanced back up, he realized his dad was watching him worriedly.

"I'll be fine here today," he told his dad. "Don't worry."

"I don't doubt that," the sheriff replied honestly. "But I don't want you leaving the house today, with all the commotion it would cause." They both knew it wasn't a good idea for either of them to spend too long in the eye of the public, or else they'd have some random rumor circulating within a few hours.

The last time they'd had a story this big about Sheriff Stilinski was when the last unsolved murder victim was found across the hood of his car. The sheriff, not guilty of course, had to flush away the rumors that he could've been the killer. The idea was absurd to Stiles; that anyone could think his father was capable of anything  _close_ to murdering someone.

Eventually, his dad wandered back into his room to get ready. He had an easy morning, thanks to the people in the station who wanted him to wait a bit before coming into work. Stiles found himself lounging on the couch for a while before his dad came back out, in full uniform.

"Deputy Clark just called and said I was alright to stay here longer, until the initial shock wears off," he said, settling on the couch near Stiles's feet.

"You don't have to stay for me," Stiles said, "I'll be fine."

"I don't doubt it," his dad replied. They both knew he didn't mean it. Worry lines were evident on the sheriff's tired face. He didn't want to leave his son alone after the awful night he'd had. "I'm still staying."

Stiles shrugged, and flipped on the TV. "Let's find something interesting to watch?"

They both nodded together, and Stiles actually smiled when he realized he was glad for the simple comfort of having someone nearby. Avoiding cable and the news altogether, Stiles pulled up Netflix and they began searching through the options available.

\-----------------

Derek woke with a start when his alarm clock went off that morning. Something felt extremely off about his room ever since Stiles left.

It was very, very cold, for starters.

He had set his alarm the night before to force himself to wake up and exercise. He hadn't gone for a run in far too long, and the lack of it made him anxious. So, Derek got ready a few minutes after the alarm went off, and was out the door.

Just like his room, the outside temperatures were extremely cold. Thanks to his natural werewolf heating, he didn't really need gloves or an extra jacket, so he ended up settling for a long sleeved dry fit T-shirt so that the other people up at this time wouldn't find him insane. His run wasn't very long, but he covered more distance than he intended to; probably because of his excitement to get back into his old routine.

When he got back to his apartment, feeling worn out but strangely happy. He showered quickly too, and only until he got out did he realize he didn't have any other plans for the day.

He picked up the remote to the TV and walked into the kitchen. He stood behind the counter and turned the TV on before turning around to start figuring out something to eat. He absentmindedly listened to the news person babble about the changes in weather before they started talking about upcoming events.

Derek rolled his eyes and picked up the remote to change the channel, when a new story caught his attention. Before he processed the words "murder" and "attack" Derek found himself watching live feed of reporters standing around a very familiar-looking house. 

Just as he recognized Stiles's jeep, though it was almost completely off screen, the door was flung wide open and his sister stormed in.

"I'm assuming you've heard the news?" She asked loudly, startling him more than the TV had.

"What's going on?" He asked, ignoring her question. He meant to clarify that he was asking why she came barging into his apartment like that, but Laura had a different idea.

"Someone was murdered on Stiles's street last night. Look-" Laura motioned to a newspaper article on the front page of the paper he hadn't noticed she was holding, "-it even quotes Sheriff Stilinski."

Derek ripped it out of her hand and started hard at the page. His eyes searched desperately along the article until he found what he was looking for. He sighed in relief when he read that it was a woman who had died, but instantly felt guilty. All he wanted was to be sure it wasn't Stiles who had been attacked.

"He's fine," Laura said impatiently. "The papers claim that the body was  _dragged_ in front of Stiles's house and left there by some sick bastard." Laura's expression was harder than Derek was expecting. He realized that his sister was just as worried as he was. 

"That's horrible," Derek said quickly. "But Stiles is okay?"

"As far as I know," she shrugged. "What I want to know is why you haven't reached out to him yet."

"I literally found out a second before you burst into my home without warning," he said, though not angrily. He was glad his sister cared enough about his relationship with Stiles to inform him immediately. 

"Ah. There's another thing you should know," Laura said slowly. "There was a symbol written on the jacket found with the woman's body."

"What was it?" Derek asked, the understanding not yet hitting him.

"Well, first, it was Stiles's jacket draped over her."

"Laura," Derek growled, though not unkindly, "what was the symbol?"

"A revenge spiral." She let the words sink in.

Derek's mind was racing. His stance turned rigid and he gripped the counter top so hard his knuckles turned white.

"I'm assuming you know who would want to send a message like that," Laura continued, "so I think you should go see him."

"I intend to now, just let me clean this up-"

"-No," Laura interrupted, raising a hand to stop him. "I'll clean up and you go. This is more important."

Derek nodded, relief and gratitude flashing across his face. He grabbed his keys quickly out of the bowl on the counter and strode out into the hallway. "Thanks," he told his sister, though she already knew he owed her one.

He let the door close behind him, and was out in the parking lot before Laura even had time to begin cleaning.

\---------------

Derek basically sped over to Stiles's house, surprising himself with his memory of where the house actually was. Derek was sure he had been going at least twenty- or more- over the speed limit, but he figured most of the cops were preoccupied today.

He pulled his car as close to the Stilinski house as he could and got out to jog past all the news vans and independent reporters and their cars. He stopped just short of the lawn where a ton of people were standing with various gear. A few cops were sitting idly on the porch, clearly meaning to keep everyone else out. Derek strode quickly up to the porch after he shoved his way through the crowd of obnoxious people. They'd put up a little of a fight until they turned around and saw the guy they were fighting against.

Not that Derek was  _scary,_ really, it was just how intimidating he couldn't help but be. He was tall, muscular and handsome, which was enough for most people to move easily out of his way. Plus, the determined look in his eyes helped.

Just as he reached the porch, the two officers stood and held up a hand. One of them, the woman, spoke first.

"You can't be here," she warned. "It's private property and you could be sued." 

"I know the Stilinskis," Derek said, expecting her to let him through after he clarified.

"That's what just about everyone claims," the male officer spoke up. He looked like he was in his early twenties.

"I'm good friends with the sheriff's kid, Stiles," Derek attempted to clarify. "I want to make sure he's okay."

"Sorry, honey," the woman said. "But I really can't let you through. Please step off of the property."

Derek accepted defeat. The last thing he wanted to do was be arrested for trying to force his way into the house to check on Stiles. He decided to wait it out, and call Stiles in the meantime. For all he knew, the boy wasn't even home.

Before Derek even thought to ask that, he realized he had left his phone at home in his haste to see Stiles. He cursed inwardly at himself for forgetting it, and settled for waiting by his car while he figured out what to do next.

\--------------

Inside, Stiles was languidly flipping channels on the TV. His dad was up searching for something to read on a bookshelf behind the couch. They both had gotten tired of watching Netflix.

Without meaning to, Stiles landed on a news channel that was (shockingly) showing pictures of his face now. They had moved on from rumors about his dad, it seemed, and focused on more interesting bits of information. They were having a fun time guessing at the reason that Stiles's jacket had been found on the victim. Stiles rolled his eyes at his dad who turned around when he heard their last name.

His dad smiled weakly, but still managed to look thoroughly irritated about his son being the public's plaything instead. 

Stiles changed the channel a split second after the camera changed to a live feed of the outside of their house. Stiles vaguely recognized a familiar black hairstyle moving at the corner of the screen. The image was gone before he realized it though, and he scrambled to change it back.

"Dad," Stiles said, grabbing the sheriff's attention immediately, "is that Derek?"

He pointed at the bottom left of the screen, where a tall man was facing the house with his back to the camera. 

"Looks like it," the sheriff said. "Let me go grab one of the officers and get them to check."

His dad moved out the front door to speak with one of the officers. Stiles immediately felt bad for sending his dad out there in front of them, because the second he showed his face the swarm of people got excited. Cameras flashed, and they all expected the sheriff to say something. Only, he just retreated back inside when he was finished conversing with the two on his porch. The commotion died down, though Stiles was happy to see them look so disappointed.

"Deputy Clark said he tried to pay us a visit earlier, but she turned him away. It's not her fault though."

Stiles nodded, sitting up on the couch. He was suddenly grateful that he had slept in his clothes from the day before. It would've been embarrassing for Derek to see him like that.

"Are they bringing him back inside?" Stiles asked, not sure what he was expecting.

"I told them to tell him to walk around to the backyard and that we'd let him in there to avoid the idiots taking pictures in the front."

"Smart," Stiles told his dad. He was proud of his dad for thinking things through so carefully all the time.

A few minutes later Derek knocked on the back door of the house and Stiles got up to let him in. The second the door opened, Derek gently pushed his way inside and locked the door behind him.

"Those people are insane," he said, shaking his head. There wasn't any amusement in his expression. 

"They're pretty annoying, huh?" Stiles attempted to joke. He wasn't feeling very comedic today.

"I can't believe you have to deal with them," Derek replied. The werewolf suddenly looked uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his head with one hand, as if trying to decide what to do now that he was actually inside.

Derek threw caution to the wind for a split second, and stepped forward into Stiles's space to give him a quick hug. He hoped he wasn't overstepping boundaries, but the kid looked like he needed it.

"You're alright, then?" Derek asked, holding Stiles at arms length. He looked at Stiles carefully, who was beginning to blush profusely. 

"I'm fine," Stiles told him, grinning despite himself. The sheriff coughed from the living room, still shuffling through books on the shelf.

"Hello, Sheriff," Derek said, and then realizing he was still holding Stiles, released the boy quickly. He was glad John's back was to them.

"Hey, welcome back, Derek," he answered, turning around. 

"Sorry for coming out of the blue like this," Derek said quickly, "I was just concerned about you both."

"Thanks for that," John said cheerfully. "I'm glad Stiles has people like you and Scott around."

Derek attempted to hide his happiness at that comment. He figured he'd at least  _try_ not to be so obvious. After all, he still didn't know where Stiles stood with their odd relationship.

"But actually, Stiles, I have to get into work soon," the sheriff stated. Stiles looked up at his dad, alarmed, but he wasn't finished. "You've got people looking out for you here, and I need to sort things out at the station."

"I understand," Stiles said finally, after a short pause. 

Derek looked back and forth between father and son, not sure exactly if he should leave or offer to stay. Stiles took the initiative.

"Are you staying?" He asked outright. He didn't feel like beating around the bush today.

Derek did his best to keep his composure. "I can if you'd like me to."

John clapped his hands together once, and smiled at the two still standing close to the back door. "That's settled then. Derek, thank you for watching out for my boy."

"Anytime, sir," Derek replied. He moved to shake hands with the sheriff, because isn't that something you do to be respectful to the parents of the person you're interested in? Stiles seemed mildly amused by Derek's movements. After the sheriff left, the two stood awkwardly in the living room together.

Stiles looked incredibly tired, now that Derek had the chance to look at him. His eyes were sleepy, and his hair was disheveled and Derek was almost positive he was still in the clothes he had been wearing when he left the apartment the night before. All Derek wanted to do was scoop him up and crawl into bed so that he could rest.

"Long night?" Derek asked quietly. He was staring at Stiles, who refused to meet his gaze for longer than two seconds.

"You've got no idea," Stiles said, once again trying to make light of whatever was troubling him. Derek wanted it to stop; he wished Stiles would tell him what was wrong.

But then he realized that he  _did_ know what was wrong. The revenge spirals were clearly meant for Stiles, and were clearly left by a certain ex-boyfriend that Derek was going to kill for hurting Stiles like this. It had probably kept him up all night, anxiously worrying. Derek hated that he had slept peacefully while Stiles probably had the worst night in a long time. He was going to make it up to him.

Derek didn't want to push the situation any further, because it was obvious Stiles wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Derek settled for digging through a few cabinets looking for something to do. Stiles just watched him with a raised eyebrow, and said nothing.

"Board games?" Derek asked, trying to find anything to take his mind off of the noise of the people outside. He realized it was a strange idea and was about to take it back.

"What do you have in mind?" Stiles asked, calming Derek's worry.

 _Anything you have,_ Derek thought. He caught sight of a dark colored box and shrugged. "I could kick your ass at Battleship."

"In your dreams," Stiles challenged, grinning a little. Derek was relieved.

"We'll see," he stated simply. They set up the game on the table in the kitchen and Derek pulled out the chairs closest to the window. He indicated for Stiles to sit, which he did. Derek peeked out the window to check that the cops actually were keeping people out of the back. The yard was pretty private, so it seemed like the coast was clear. Derek raised the blinds.

"Better lighting," he said. Stiles grinned and nodded back.

It was only about 10 in the morning, and as they began to play the game, both of them were beginning to realize how long of a day it was going to be. 

Stiles suddenly felt bad about trapping Derek into staying with him. "You really don't have to stay with me."

Derek looked up from the game slowly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be."

"I get that," Stiles said, "but I-"

"-No, Stiles, I  _want_ to be with you." Derek interrupted him, and when he realized how much he had just told Stiles, he felt his cheeks grow warm and immediately wanted to hide his face in his hands. They were both staring at their own boards, and occasionally sneaking looks when they thought the other wasn't paying attention. 

"You say that now," Stiles said seriously, "but I don't know how you'll feel when I kick your ass in this game."

His tone caught Derek off guard, but when he realized that Stiles was only kidding, he grinned wickedly back at the boy. "I don't lose." _  
_

"Me neither," Stiles replied. "To make it interesting, loser has to bake whatever cookies my dad has stocked up in the fridge."

"I can't wait for you to make the snacks," Derek teased. He was extremely happy that Stiles was loosening up finally.

Eventually they quit bantering enough to play the game and they managed to pass the time some. It really was going to be a long day though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me so far.  
> Stay tuned for more!


	8. Long Day

Derek made the cookies. He lost to Stiles, fair and square. He didn't even throw the game; Stiles just won.

"I forgot how good these sugar cookies are," Stiles said. They ended up being a sheet of the pre-made cookies that you stick in the oven for 15 minutes. They had little Christmas trees on them and everything.

"They're better when I make them," Derek replied, shrugging.

Stiles rolled his eyes and finished the last few bites of their snack. Even Derek had eaten a few himself.

" _God,_ " Stiles moaned as he looked at the clock on the wall, causing Derek to raise a slightly worried eyebrow. "How long were we playing that game?"

"Well, about two hours, right?" Derek said. "We probably just spoiled our lunch too."

"No biggie," Stiles was leaning back in his chair in the kitchen. He looked pretty comfortable. "I probably wouldn't have eaten much anyways."

Derek didn't feel like pressing him about why. "Let me know when you get hungry?" He asked, to which Stiles nodded. They had gotten tired of board games as quickly as they had started, and it left them with very little left to do. Stiles had been watching a lot of TV lately and wasn't really in the mood for any more.

Stiles suddenly realized he hadn't spoken to Scott since everything happened. He wondered if his best friend even knew what had happened. Though, he supposed if he did, Scott would've come running the same way Derek had. Stiles grabbed his phone from the counter, and turned it on. A flood of messages came in when it unlocked. Stiles searched through it to find Scott's name, and guiltily realized that he had tried to call several times.

**_Working an all day shift at the vet. Please text back soon. Especially if you need me_ **

_I'm fine. Derek's here,_ Stiles sent a quick reply.

A few seconds later, another text came in. **_Shocking. But still call if you need me ok?_**

 _I will._ Stiles ignored the other messages despite their good intentions. He wasn't feeling up for dealing with anyone else yet.

Derek had noticed the sheriff shuffling around on the bookshelf earlier. After they finished playing the games, he browsed through it carefully and picked up a book he thought seemed interesting. He settled down to read it on the plush chair beside the couch where Stiles was laying. 

Stiles had one arm over his face, and his legs were hanging off the edge of the arm rest. It left a huge gap above his head, but Derek was too chicken to sit that close to the boy. When Stiles heard him flipping pages, he looked up to see what the wolf had found.

"I read that a long time ago," Stiles commented, not expecting Derek to be listening. "I loved it."

Derek glanced at the cover again. "It's a pretty long book."

"It took me forever to finish," Stiles said truthfully. He chuckled a little. 

"I've read the author before," Derek added. Though, he hadn't read this particular book, _The Crossing,_  before. "Cormac McCarthy is a genius."

"Don't you think it's ironic," Stiles said loudly, "that you chose a book about a boy and a wolf?"

"It's a she-wolf in the story though," Derek said, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly like you," Stiles joked.

Derek clenched his jaw and stood up suddenly. He grabbed the closest pillow and smacked Stiles hard in the face with it, making the boy laugh and nearly lose his spot on the couch. He fell back into the chair with a grunt.

"Do I look like a female to you?" Derek snapped, though he was hiding a grin. For effect, he stretched with his arms flexed over his head, and leaned over the chair back just a bit. It exposed a strip of skin on his stomach and hard muscles. Stiles had to check and see if he was drooling.

"Definitely not," Stiles quipped, dragging his eyes up from Derek's torso to meet his gaze. There was a weighted silence as Stiles enjoyed his sudden bravery.

"Don't you have video games you could play?" Derek said, embarrassed, to dismiss Stiles's comment. He didn't want to show how easily the boy got to him. Mindless flirting would get him into trouble in situations like these.

"It's lonely playing alone," the boy whined, moving his feet in circles. They were still dangling off of the end of the couch.

"Is that your sad little way of asking me to play?" Derek teased. 

Stiles rolled his eyes. "No," he thought for a moment. "But you should play."

"Never played video games," Derek said, shrugging. 

"What?" Stiles cried, immediately sitting up. It was an offense to his very existence. "I'm teaching you. Let's go." 

Stiles pounded eagerly up the stairs, Derek following slowly in his wake. He wondered how exactly he'd agreed to this. If it weren't for Stiles's excited heartbeat that he could hear all the way down the hall, he wouldn't have known which room to turn into. 

Derek didn't realize how comfortable he was in Stiles's room until they were seated with their backs against Stiles's bed and facing the TV on the table. Stiles had the console booted up and ready to go, so he briefly explained how to play before throwing Derek headfirst into the game.

No matter how hard he tried, Derek couldn't win against Stiles. After all, the boy was  _kind of_ a pro. Derek even tapped into a little werewolf energy to try and kick up his reflexes.

"Cheater!" Stiles cried, pointing at Derek's eyes. "Unfair! And you're still losing anyways!"

"That's why I'm doing it!" he cried back. Another loss for Derek, and the wolf realized he'd had enough. He threw an irritated arm over his eyes and leaned back against the bed. During their game he hadn't realized how much closer to the TV they'd gotten in their excitement.

"It's the controller," Derek said, in a last ditch effort to save some dignity. Stiles moved closer to peer at the controller in his hand. Derek could feel his warm breath ghosting over his arms. It gave him chill bumps, which Stiles duly noted.

"You wish," Stiles mumbled, grinning hard. It didn't stop him from leaning closer into Derek's space to view the controller.

Stiles decided to take his banter a little further. "I can teach you properly, if you want," he offered. He rested his elbow gently on Derek's arm and inclined his head towards Derek slightly.

Derek was flushing already. "It's a lost cause," he stated, attempting to free himself from what he thought was impending embarrassment. 

"I taught Scott how to play, and you shouldn't be much different." Stiles was feeling pretty bold. He lightly touched his pointer finger to where Derek's thumb was resting on the controller. He pushed it onto the button, and instead of removing his hand from hovering over Derek's lap, let it rest on the wolf's wrist that was closest to him. Stiles was enjoying himself tremendously. 

Derek was at a loss for words. He gazed down at Stiles's hand that was now covering his own. He looked slowly up at Stiles's face, not sure what was happening. He refused to get ahead of himself and assume that it meant something that he desperately wanted it to.

Stiles was staring into his face patiently, waiting for Derek to look up. When he did, Stiles was hiding a smirk and looking at him with an unreadable expression. Derek was trapped in Stiles's gaze, staring back into the boy's brown eyes and freckled face. He couldn't breathe.

Luckily for him, Stiles ended the agony by leaning forward with his eyes closed and putting his forehead against Derek's cheek. Derek turned his head extremely slow, letting Stiles's nose drag across his cheek in a straight line until it bumped his own. The whole thing seemed to take hours. They were both breathing a little heavier than they had when they played the games, but neither seemed to notice.

It was like something synced in both of their brains at once when Derek finally made a move. It happened so fast that their noses bumped before Derek found Stiles's lips with his own and was kissing him full-force. His head was tilted just perfectly, and Stiles had risen to his knees and placed one hand on Derek's shoulder. Derek's hand had found its way to Stiles's waist and was holding him in place.

Their movements were frenzied and passionate, as if they were worried about being caught. Stiles was looking for anything he could grasp to steady himself as they kissed harder and moved faster. Any vague thoughts that had been in the back of his mind about Derek not reacting well to his advances vanished.

Derek quickly was losing control, something that seemed to always happen around Stiles. His mind was going fuzzy as Stiles's familiar scent flooded all of his senses. All he could really understand was Stiles's hands on his shoulder and on his cheek, and how soft the boy's lips were. Everything happened so fast because of Stiles's mindless advances that they were just that; he hadn't thought them through.

Stiles was assaulted with memories. They flew in front of his eyes in flashes like lightning, and though his body was screaming that this was  _Derek_ in front of him, his mind could only remember Theo.

Stiles broke away from Derek and pulled almost completely away except for the hand on Derek's shoulder. Instead of being a comforting gesture to Derek, it was beginning to feel more like a hand to keep him at arm's length. The crushing, ominous feeling began to settle in the pit of Derek's stomach, and he sat quietly against the bed waiting for Stiles to say something.  _Anything._

The boy was equally quiet, and the only sound in the room was the two of them panting, until that too quieted. A wave of nausea was passing through his system at that moment, leaving him unable to get his thoughts out in more than two words.

"I'm sorry," Stiles started, realizing a little of how that may have looked to Derek.

"If I did anything to make you-" Derek began, trying to make amends.

"-You didn't," Stiles interrupted. He still was turned away from Derek, refusing to look at him.

Derek wasn't convinced. "I won't do anything else if you don't want it."

"I do want it," Stiles said, allowing himself to be honest for the first time since he'd met Derek. They were both trying to remain calm, but Derek was fighting to ignore the painful thumping in his chest, both from worry and the meaning of Stiles's confession.

"I just can't right now," Stiles continued. All he could see was Theo, hiding in the back of his mind, waiting to remind him of all the things he was trying to move on from. The recent events couldn't be ignored. Stiles shut his eyes forcefully, and hugged his knees to his chest. He was praying for the panic to pass.

Derek couldn't stand to see Stiles so affected by something he couldn't even imagine. Before he knew what he was doing- and before he realized that it might not be the correct thing to do- Derek was reaching forward to grasp Stiles's shoulder. He pulled the boy's back gently into his chest and held him tight, arms wrapped around the boy's front. He could smell the salty tears on Stiles's face, but ignored them and continued to just hold Stiles. 

After a few moments, Stiles raised his arms to cover Derek's letting him know that his actions were okay, and appreciated. They sat in silence for a long time. Stiles was trying desperately to rid himself of the awful thoughts that plagued his mind, and Derek tried to anchor him back to the present as best as he could.

Black lines started flowing along Derek's veins in his arms and up towards the wolf's chest. When Stiles began to feel the pressure in his chest and mind lifting, he glanced at Derek's arms and realized that the man was shuddering from the amount of pain he was absorbing.

"You don't need to do that," Stiles said quietly. He sounded better than he had before.

"I wanted to," Derek replied simply. He was working hard to draw a breath. The sadness that Stiles was carrying was quite a burden, and Derek was panting from the weight of it.

"I didn't know wolves could absorb mental pain," Stiles said, louder now. He was beginning to recover from the temporary scare. 

Derek was resting his chin on Stiles's head by now, as both of them had settled comfortably into each other. He lifted his head so he could speak. Derek hadn't known that he could do it either; he just felt it. The pain that he was feeling was like a small iron weight in the center of Stiles's chest. Derek was imagining himself removing it, and then all of a sudden it was like a liquid draining from Stiles and into the wolf's arms. As soon as the imaginary weight entered Derek's bloodstream, he felt incredibly scared and alone.

Derek was filled with an incredible longing to protect Stiles, and keep him from ever feeling that way again. His arms tightened unconsciously around the boy. Then he realized he hadn't said anything reply.

"Me neither," he said, voice wobbling. Derek immediately flushed because of how his voice betrayed his emotion. Stiles didn't seem to notice, or didn't seem to care.

 "My dad should be home soon," Stiles stated. Neither of them moved.

"We should probably go downstairs," Derek suggested. He couldn't will himself to push Stiles off of his lap. Every second he got with Stiles counted.

Stiles leaned his head back, so that it rested on the side of Derek's neck. After a slight pause, he sat up and crawled away from Derek. They both clambered uneasily to their feet and headed down the hallway. Stiles settled on one end of the living room couch, and Derek took the other side instead of the couch this time. 

 _Does this count as baby steps?_ Derek wondered. He supposed that it did.

They watched TV in uneasy silence, leaving each of them to their thoughts for a while. Derek was worried about Stiles because of the distress that he could smell on the boy. Stiles was experiencing such a mix of emotions that it was hard to place one. The most prevalent thought was that he hoped Derek didn't feel like he was babysitting. That would probably be Stiles's worst nightmare.

Not too much longer, just as Stiles predicted, the sheriff came home. It was around dinner time, and  _surprise_ , he brought food from the diner with him. Stiles wasn't in a mood to argue with him over the unhealthy choices his dad had the habit of making.

"I brought some for you too, Derek, if you want to stay and eat with us," his father said. He was already expecting Derek to stay for dinner.

Derek wondered if the sheriff could tell how he felt about Stiles. He supposed that it was rather obvious.

"I'd love to," Derek replied after glancing at Stiles to gauge his reaction. Stiles had looked at Derek hopefully; a fact that wasn't ignored by his father. "How much do I owe you?"

Both Stiles and his father looked offended. "Please, it's the least we can do," John explained.

Derek shrugged and thanked him, and they all sat awkwardly around the table. Derek wasn't a picky eater, so he took the wrapped burger that was handed to him, opened it up and started eating. Stiles, used to the routine of having diner food, placed the shared bowl of fries in the middle of the table. 

"I'll get some water," Stiles said, already rising from the table. "You guys want any?"

Both Derek and the sheriff nodded, and Stiles wandered to the fridge to grab a few bottles. Derek realized that the sheriff was looking at him, and he glanced up. John's worried face and raised eyebrows asked a clear question, wondering if Stiles had been okay during the day. Derek just nodded and shrugged. A total noncommittal move, he knew, but it was all he could really offer with simple gestures.

Stiles sat back down and passed a bottle to both of them, and they continued to eat in a strange silence. For a moment, it seemed almost comfortable. Inevitably, something had to change that.

"I know you were upset by this," John said, looking at Stiles, "but we identified the girl today."

"Who was it?" Stiles asked quietly, nudging a fry around his plate. He wasn't looking at either of them.

"Her name was Emily Barrow. She was heading home from a late shift at work a few blocks over." Derek could tell that he didn't want to force any more information on Stiles, but also that Stiles needed to hear the details so that he could properly mourn and then hopefully move on. 

Stiles's face tightened, and no one said anything until he was able to relax again. It was a large, wooden table that they were seated around, so the sheriff didn't notice when Stiles took Derek's hand under it. As Derek studied Stiles's reactions, and smelled the fear, worry and flat out distress rolling off of the boy, the more he wanted to find this  _Theo._ He wanted to be sure that he wouldn't contact Stiles, or anyone in Beacon Hills ever again.

"They're having her wake in a few days," the sheriff continued. "Do you want to go?"

Stiles shook his head and at last the conversation was dropped. His father successfully changed the topic and Derek talked with him so that Stiles didn't have to. They finished their dinner, and Derek prepared to leave. He grabbed his jacket that he left in the living room and checked to make sure his keys were still there.

Stiles and his father walked out of the kitchen to find him.

"Thanks for having me," Derek said, meaning it completely.

"Thank you for keeping Stiles company," the sheriff replied. He glanced down at his son which forced Derek to detect a new wave of negative emotions coming from Stiles. He loathed leaving him like that even more now. The sheriff seemed lost in thought until he spoke again out of the blue. "It's getting late."

Derek nodded. "I should be going." They were still studying Stiles, who hadn't said a word yet.

The sheriff sighed. "Derek it's too late for you to drive home alone. Maybe you should just stay here."

"I don't want to inconvenience anyone-"

"-You won't be," Stiles interrupted loudly. He looked earnestly at Derek. "You can stay in the guest room now."

"That's settled, so not another protest, please," his father said, waving both of the boys away. He looked extremely tired now that it was actually dark outside.

Derek didn't say anything as Stiles led him upstairs and into his bathroom. This being the second time Derek stayed over, he had his own tooth brush. He borrowed another pair of clothes from Stiles, and allowed himself to be led to the guestroom. Stiles halted in the doorway, and gestured for Derek to go ahead in.

"If you need anything," the boy stated. He looked at Derek intensely for a moment before smiling slightly. "Thank you for today."

"Anytime you need me," Derek said, touching the boy's shoulder gently. He dropped his hand back to his side.

"I don't know if I could've gotten through it so easily if you hadn't been here," Stiles continued. 

Derek nodded, and grinned at the boy. "I had a good time."

Stiles was grinning back now. "Goodnight, Derek."

Hearing his name rolling off of Stiles's tongue almost made him shiver. "Goodnight."

They both retreated to their own rooms.

\-----------------

Late into the night, Stiles was in the middle of another nightmare. He cried out and his dad came rushing in to wake him. They didn't speak to each other, but the sheriff realized that it was most likely going to be another long night for the both of them. Stiles stayed in bed, panting and wishing that the nightmares would just stop.

His dad could do little to comfort him this time. They were beginning to seem just too real to Stiles each time. It was harder to wake up, now that the dreams were being followed by anxiety attacks. His dad sat at the edge of his bed until Stiles's breathing slowed down again, and then he padded back down to the end of the hallway into his own room once again.

Stiles waited until he was sure his dad was back in his room before getting out of bed and tip-toeing out of his room. The door to the guest room squeaked open, making Stiles cringe and wonder if his dad could've heard it.

He didn't care though. The bed dipped to one side as he crawled into it, and felt around for Derek. He was already awake, probably from overhearing Stiles's screaming. 

Truthfully, Derek had wanted to rush over to Stiles as soon as the nightmare started. He was almost out the door when he heard his father already calming Stiles down to the best of his ability.

Without any communication, Derek rolled over to face Stiles on the bed, and pulled the boy into his chest. Stiles nestled his face into Derek's chest as his body shook with silent sobs. Derek only hugged him closer and waited for it to stop. He kissed the top of his head and breathed in Stiles's familiar scent. 

They fell asleep pressed against each other, neither of them wanting to move any farther apart. Only in the morning did they both realize that Stiles hadn't had another nightmare that night. Everyone was extremely glad, including Stiles's father who was happy to have a full night's rest for both himself and his son. Of course, he didn't realize that Stiles was with Derek the entire night, but that didn't matter as long as everyone made it through the night okay.

 Derek, much to both he and Stiles's dismay, had to leave for work in the morning. He said an awkward and guilty goodbye to Stiles's father and was out the door into the chilly morning. Stiles watched him go standing on the porch, savoring the lingering warmth of the kiss that Derek had pressed onto his forehead. When Derek's car disappeared down the street, and before he got too cold, Stiles retreated inside to spend time with his father.


	9. Wrecked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's about to get rough

Later in the day, Stiles and his dad were getting ready to head out. It was a little while after lunch when his dad realized that Stiles's grandmother had called.

"She asked about you," John told his son as they both cleaned up in the kitchen. Stiles nodded, expecting his dad to continue. "Why don't you make time to see her?"

"I will," Stiles answered. He hadn't seen  his grandma in a few days, and because Christmas was getting closer, he knew he probably should. "I'll go in a few."

He hadn't had enough gas to get him into town and back, so he just left the jeep parked in the lot beside the bus stop. It was probably a twenty minute drive from his house.

So, that's how he ended up on a bus on his way back into the city. There weren't many people out driving right now, so the bus wasn't having any issues with traffic. It was getting so cold that even inside the bus he could see his breath. There was only one other woman sitting in that bus with him.

She had extremely curly blonde hair and a nervous expression on her face that was beginning to make Stiles feel anxious himself. She was shivering as well, and Stiles noticed how little clothing she was wearing in this weather. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties.

As much as he hated to give up the scarf that Derek had given him, it was the least he could do for someone who looked like she needed it more. He'd buy Derek a new one anyways.

When Stiles offered it to her, she tried to refuse. Stiles was persistent. "Seriously, I have tons more where I'm going. You look like you're freezing."

She eyed the scarf quietly, as if checking it for any threat. Finally, she guiltily took it from him and wrapped it around her own neck. A scarf probably didn't do much other than protect her neck, but Stiles wanted to help in any small way that he could. "Thank you," she said finally.

Stiles was content to sit the rest of the short drive in silence, but the woman spoke up as she twisted a blonde ringlet around her finger. "Which stop are you?"

"If traffic's this easy I'll probably get off at 36th since it's closer to where I'm going."

"That's my stop too," she said, smiling enthusiastically all of a sudden. "Where you from?"

"Beacon Hills is where I live," Stiles said, suddenly getting an odd feeling from sharing so much information with a stranger. "I'm visiting my grandmother here though."

"What a sweet grandkid," she said. "It doesn't look like traffic is going to be good." They both looked out the bus window as the bus rolled to a stop. Cars were backed up all the way up the street. Stiles groaned. 

"I'll probably just get out now then," Stiles stated as he stood. "Nice meeting you."

"But that's six blocks," she protested, "and it's so cold out."

Stiles shrugged. "I've gotta get over there soon, so I can't wait for traffic to clear up."

"Alright," the woman said finally. "Nice meeting you too." 

Stiles spoke to the bus driver for a quick second, and the doors opened with a creak. Stiles waved at both of them and stepped out into the freezing air. He pulled his coat tighter to his body and started walking up the sidewalk towards his grandmother's house.

Six blocks isn't a really long walk, but the cold made it pretty unbearable. Stiles was surprised that the sidewalk wasn't covered in ice, especially because they hadn't put any salt down yet. 

Hands stuffed in his pocket, with headphones in his ears blaring music, Stiles was carefully minding his own business. His jacket was a nice one that his grandmother had ordered for him, so he knew she'd be happy to know he actually used it.

Stiles passed the large building where he'd taken his grandmother to see the Nutcracker. His face almost broke into a smile when he realized that it was the same place he'd first met Derek. Stiles wanted to laugh when he thought about how suspicious he'd been at first. 

He thought more about Derek, and how they've progressed. Stiles was confident that he was actually wanted. He had never been that confident in someone else before. Especially not when he thought he liked Lydia back in freshman year. He was a confused freshman.

Somehow his dad had known though. And he knew just how lucky he was that his dad had accepted him before he had even accepted himself. 

His thoughts carried him the entire way to his grandmother's house, taking his mind off of the freezing cold and his own tired steps. He opened the gate as quietly as he could, but it opened with a loud creak. Genim opened the door, obviously hearing the gate, and ushered Stiles inside. 

The inside of her house was a familiar comfort to Stiles, especially because of how warm it was in contrast to the weather. 

He threw off his jacket and stuffed his gloves into the pockets. His grandmother took them from him and hung them on the hooks beside the door. She didn't comment, but Stiles could tell that she was proud to see him using the jacket she gave him.

"What, no scarf?" his grandmother teased. Stiles grinned an shook his head. 

"I guess I forgot one," Stiles replied.

"Never mind that," Genim said. She hugged him lightly. "How are you?"

Stiles hugged her back, glad that he had made time to come see her. "I'm fine, really."

"I heard about the poor girl," his grandma said, shaking her head. Stiles swallowed hard and suddenly found his throat closing. His grandma noticed immediately. That was one of her most amazing traits; she picked up on other people's feelings extremely fast and always handled situations better than anyone else.

Stiles sighed. 

"Anyways," his grandma continued, "what about the nice young man that drove us home after the play. Have you seen him lately?"

"I know dad's filled you in," Stiles stated, rolling his eyes. His words were coming much easier now because of the subject change. 

"I want to hear it from  _you_ ," she laughed. Genim sat down at the kitchen table and looked at Stiles expectantly. Every time she wanted to talk, his grandmother would sit in that same spot and wait for him to sit on the other side of the table. Their conversations would last an extremely long time.

"There's not much to tell," Stiles lied, smiling innocently. 

Genim called him out immediately. "Your father said he stayed the night."

"That's true, but-"

" _More than once_ ," she interrupted him. It was obvious she wasn't going to let this go.

"Fine!" Stiles cried. He'd tell her. "Derek and I are getting to be pretty close." Hearing the words out loud made Stiles's heart thump in his chest. He wondered what Derek would say when people asked him the same thing.

"That's so good to hear!" Stiles could tell she was happy for him. "I'll have _two_  handsome grandchildren before long!"

"Grandma!" Stiles cried, as if someone could overhear such an embarrassing statement. Stiles was blushing painfully.

"Oh please," she waved a hand at him, "I'm only teasing."

Stiles put his head down on the table to hide the redness in his cheeks. Genim laughed at her grandson's embarrassment, but was extremely happy to know that he had found someone that made him react that way. 

"I'm going to start preparing for dinner soon," Genim said. "Will you be eating with me?"

"I think I have to get home before then," Stiles replied mournfully. He really wanted an actual cooked meal rather than the diner food that he knew was probably going to be served at home. "I can ask dad to let me stay."

"No, don't leave your father alone. God knows what he'll let himself eat." Genim knew about her son's habit of unhealthy foods. She was part of the reason Stiles forced his dad to eat healthy from time to time. Stiles didn't want her to worry too much.

"Fine, fine," Stiles laughed. "I know when I'm not wanted."

"You're always welcome here, silly boy," his grandmother chided. He knew he was. Stiles made a mental note to invite her to stay at their house on Christmas. It would be kinda lonely to be separated on an important holiday like that.

\------

"Thanks for making time to see me," Genim told Stiles as he was pulling his jacket back on.

"Of course," Stiles replied, though he was a bit distracted. He couldn't find his gloves. 

"Check your pockets?" Genim suggested.

Stiles grinned sheepishly when he pulled them out, but still stopped to hug his grandma one more time before he left.  "Love you," he told her.

"Love you too," she replied. "Now get going before it gets any colder." 

The temperature was dropping quickly, Stiles noted, and he was willing to ride the bus the entire way back to Beacon Hills just to avoid walking in this weather.

This time, the bus was more packed than earlier. There weren't many open seats left, and by the time everyone from the same stop as Stiles was on the bus, lots of people had to stand. Stiles noticed a woman and child standing awkwardly near the door, and offered them his seat. He wasn't as tired as they seemed to be. They couldn't stop thanking him,

Finally back in Beacon Hills, Stiles was glad to see his jeep again. He was tired of cramped bus spaces and standing too close to strangers. The drive home started off uneventful. That is, until Stiles realized that his jeep didn't have enough gas to get him home. He pulled into the nearest gas station, and started rummaging through his console looking for any spare change he could find. 

He had almost ten dollars when someone tapped the window and scared him. Stiles hesitated before rolling down the window. "Yes?"

"I need you to move your jeep if you're not going to purchase anything," the man said. He was extremely tall and muscular, and Stiles didn't really want to get on his bad side.

Stiles looked at him carefully. This guy didn't seem to work here, so Stiles assumed that this was just another asshole trying to push him around. Stiles shook his head slightly. "I'm going to get gas in just a moment."

A few seconds went by as Stiles continued to rummage just out of spite. 

When the guy growled, Stiles knew he was in trouble. There was a split moment of panic as Stiles scrambled for his phone before he felt an arm wrap around his neck. A white rag was pressed to his mouth and Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and fought as hard as he could without taking a breath. He'd seen these things in all kinds of movies. Wasn't he supposed to hold his breath or breathe through his nose or something?

As if reading his thoughts, the man pinched Stiles's nose and forced him to attempt to breathe through his mouth again. Stiles felt his vision blurring and his defense weakening. The last thing he remembered was the phone falling from his unresponsive fingers. 

\------

The boy woke with an extremely bad headache and a nauseous feeling. He was laying on a pile of blankets and pillows arranged nicely into a makeshift bed. He winced every time something made a sound. The air was too warm, and Stiles was sweating against the blankets trapping him. He began to try and peel them up.

Stiles bolted upright as he started to heave and the contents of his stomach rose up his throat. He regretted it as the pounding in his head hit again, this time harder than before. He swallowed the awful feeling down and stayed in his sitting position. He desperately searched around the room for any sign of where he was.

The only light in the room was from an uncovered, flickering bulb screwed into the ceiling. Every time it went out for more than a few seconds, panic would rise in Stiles throat.

After a few moments when the lights were steady, Stiles breathing slowed enough for him to notice the sound of running water that was echoing around the small space. It sounded as if he were underground; probably in some basement somewhere.

Panic hit him full force as he recalled the events at the gas station, and the strong stranger that had knocked him unconscious. Stiles wondered if anyone was even looking for him yet. He thought desperately of Derek, who probably had no idea that Stiles was in a predicament like this. He had no phone, watch or anything to let him know what time it was. It could be the middle of the night for all he knew.

 _I was kidnapped,_ Stiles realized suddenly as he fought against the blankets tangling around his legs. He couldn't get them off which was adding to his rising hysteria.

This time, he was unable to calm himself, and fainted again.

The darkness of sleep was better than scaring himself with so many unknowns while he was awake.

\------ 

Derek had texted Stiles at  _least_ three times by now, and had considered texting him about ten times more. He restrained himself, though, which was not an easy task.

 The boy hadn't replied yet, which made it worse. Derek was obviously left with many feelings of self-doubt, but mostly just worrying about Stiles, who  _always_ had his phone nearby. Maybe just this once it was charging in another room or something.

Derek goes about his business, hoping for just one text from Stiles. He was monumentally bored. Not even Laura was around to keep him company. Apparently she'd gone for a job interview a few towns over and Cora had driven her. He hadn't even seen the pack lately. He hadn't heard from Erica and Boyd in a while, other than a few check-up texts he sent a few hours ago. Isaac had practically been MIA since the incident with Scott. 

Actually, the last Derek had heard from him, Isaac had still been pretty upset. He wondered if the kid needed anything. Instead of texting, Derek called his cell.

" _Hello?_ " came a voice that was _not_ Isaac. 

"I must have the wrong number," Derek stated, almost hanging up immediately. 

"Derek? _"_ the voice said again. It sounded strangely familiar. 

"Scott?" Derek exclaimed incredulously. There was  _no_ way.

Derek could basically hear the blush in the young wolf's words. " _Ah, hey Derek_."

"You wanna tell me why you're answering Isaac's phone?" Derek wasn't angry, just incredible confused. He sat down on the couch in his living room and leaned his head back. He needed an explanation.

" _Isaac's in the shower,"_ Scott replied, sounding sheepish. _  
_

"No," Derek said, rolling his eyes. "Tell me why you're in his house right now."

" _We- uh, made up, I guess."_ Scott sounded unsure. " _I broke up with my girlfriend..."_

"You did?" Derek tried to keep the surprise from his voice. Though, he was proud of Scott for trusting his gut. Now both wolves would most likely be happier. 

" _Yeah... It was obvious Isaac was my mate. I went for it."_

"Congrats," Derek told him. The instant Scott used that word, Derek's mind went directly to Stiles. Derek wondered if that's why he felt so strongly about a human. 

The phone crackled a bit as the two shared an awkward moment of silence. " _Want me to tell Isaac you called when he gets out?"_

"Just tell him I was checking up on him," Derek replied. He suddenly felt like the two wanted to be alone for a little while longer. "I'm glad you two worked it out."

" _Thanks_ ," Scott replied awkwardly. " _Bye._ "

Derek hung up, ready to begin wallowing in his loneliness once again. He had  _never_ felt lonely like this before. He was an introvert, to say the least, and people usually bothered the mess out of him. Derek assumed later that it was probably the lack of Stiles that made him so restless and irritated. In the pit of his stomach, worry was begging to sit heavily. 

To make matters worse, Derek's phone rang and almost scared him off the couch. His mind jumped to Stiles, and he answered a little too eagerly when he saw "Stilinski" on the caller ID.

" _Hello, Derek_ ," the sheriff said, crushing Derek's hopes all at once. Wrong Stilinski.

"Sheriff," Derek replied shortly. "What can I do for you?"

" _I was just wondering if you've seen Stiles lately?"_

Derek's heart stopped. "No sir, you haven't seen him?"

" _He hasn't answered my texts. I thought he possibly stopped by to see you on his way back."_

"From where?" Derek asked, preparing to take mental notes. 

" _He was visiting Genim today. The last I heard from him was when he left her place for the bus."_

"He hasn't answered my texts either," Derek informed the sheriff. "Is there something I can do to help?"

" _There's no need to panic,"_ the sheriff said, attempting to slow Derek's inevitable worry. But it was already way too late. " _Just let me know if you hear from him?"_

"Of course," Derek said quickly. "Will you keep me updated?"

" _Of course,_ " he echoed. " _I'll let you know as soon as we know anything."_

Even after the sheriff promised that, Derek was still extremely upset. He should've realized that something was wrong. Everything seemed to be swimming before his eyes as Derek realized why he was petrified. The woman, the  _warnings_ that had been presenting themselves. Derek shouldn't have let Stiles out of his sight with such an enormous threat hanging over them. He had to snap himself out of his self pity and focus on the problem ahead of him. 

Derek immediately got in touch with every wolf in his pack that knew Stiles. He explained the problem in a group text and immediately got supportive responses. A brief surge of pride hit him when he realized how protective the pack was of each other, and it hit even harder when he realized they considered Stiles to be pack as well. That feeling ebbed away soon enough when he realized that they still had no idea where Stiles was.

Everyone insisted on meeting up at Derek's apartment, so he waited there, pacing back and forth.

"I can hear you pacing from down the hallway," Erica exclaimed loudly, before she'd even opened the door. She knew he could hear her. Boyd, Isaac and Scott followed her inside. 

"Laura and Cora?" Boyd asked. They had replied that they were coming. 

"They're on their way, but it's a long drive," Derek explained. He was grateful that everyone jumped to help him out even if they didn't know all the details.

"I'm here to help," Erica said, "but how exactly do you know that Stiles is in trouble? Especially if you haven't seen him for only a few hours?"

Scott glanced up, met Isaac's gaze, and then cleared his throat. Everyone waited expectantly.

"It's a mate thing," Scott said. "It's like, the tiniest awareness of the other." Isaac nodded, confirming this. Derek let that sink in. It was probably official now; everyone assumed that he and Stiles were mates whether it was true or not. Derek hoped it was.

"I didn't know we could have human mates," Boyd commented. 

Erica shrugged and flicked her hair back over her shoulder. "I've heard of it before. Though I doubt it's common."

Derek was silent, and luckily Scott spoke up again. "Let's find my best friend."

Derek cleared his throat. "His father said that Stiles went into town to visit his grandmother. The last place we know of that he visited was her house and probably the bus stop."

"We can start near the bus stop here?" Isaac offered. He and Scott nodded together. 

"We should probably check with Genim," Derek stated. "Erica?" 

"Got it," she replied. "Give me an address and I'm good to go."

"Boyd, you can drive with me along the route that the bus takes to see if we see anything." Boyd nodded silently.

Everyone looked oddly determined. Derek was certain now that they had bonded closely with Stiles. It almost made him happy, save for the fact that Stiles was missing.

Everyone set out quickly. Derek drove way above the speed limit in order to cover the distance that the bus took. One by one, everyone texted back their reports.

 _Checked the bus station. There are too many scents to tell if he was here. -_ Scott and Isaac

 _His grandmother is just as worried as we are. She said he always texts when he makes it somewhere safe._ -Erica

Boyd and Derek didn't see anything abnormal  _at all_ along the road. Derek was beginning to despair after he called the police department to see if anything had turned up. The sheriff had no news whatsoever, but he again promised to call Derek in an attempt to get him to relax. But panic was already setting in.

 _Wait,_ Erica's text read,  _Genim said that Stiles said his jeep needed gas so he probably had to stop for it on the way home._

 _That could be important,_ Derek replied. Boyd read the text and thought for a second. Derek had brought him along in the car because Boyd had a natural knack for remembering directions and certain areas. He was glad that Boyd would be there for him now. Especially as he began directing Derek to every gas station from the bus station to the Stilinski house. 

Once again, there wasn't a single clue. It was getting late too, and it had been dark for a few hours. When Derek realized that it was nearly midnight, he finally told the pack to call it a night. They weren't going to find anything with it being so dark. Everyone looked disappointed, almost as disappointed and scared as Derek felt. 

They met back up at Derek's apartment. It was well past midnight now, and everyone looked exhausted. Only then did Derek realize how hard everyone was working to find him. He was grateful. 

"I should probably tell you what we could possibly be dealing with," Derek said quietly, knowing that he had everyone's attention. "I don't know that it's my place to tell you, so I'm going to keep it as short as I can. It's sensitive stuff."

With an encouraging nod from Scott, who knew what Derek was going to say, he continued. Derek explained only that Stiles had an angry werewolf after him, who would do most likely anything to get Stiles to return to him. Everyone understood immediately, and Derek could see the dots connecting. The woman, the spiral, the dead animals that had been turning up everywhere; it all tied back to Theo.

Scott looked upset all of a sudden. "If I'd just killed him when it was suggested this wouldn't be happening. Stiles wouldn't be in  _danger_." He sounded close to tears.

"This is not your fault," Derek said, at the same time that Isaac hugged Scott tightly. Isaac's actions alone did more to console Scott than anything Derek could say.

Derek could see everyone's energy ebbing away, and he suddenly wasn't really excited to be alone. He offered for them to stay the night. Everyone jumped at the chance. Erica especially knew that Derek would probably be more upset than he let on in front of his younger packmates. She was worried about him more than she was worried about Stiles in that moment. Though she cared for Stiles, the real reason Erica was working so hard was to ease Derek's mind. He was her older brother. One of her closest friends and she couldn't stand to see him looking so scared.

Everyone bundled up with a few blankets and pillows in the living room, like some sort of pack sleepover. Laura and Cora would be arriving in a few hours, so they left the door unlocked and a note on the outside of it to let them know that everyone was sleeping. Derek retreated to his bedroom quietly when everyone seemed to be settling in.

He plugged his phone up and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. Even though he knew that there was no way he'd miss it ringing. What he  _didn't_ know was exactly how tired he was until he hit the bed and his body shut down. He was asleep in minutes, though it wasn't exactly restful. 

**[Later in the morning]**

When Cora and Laura walked in, most of the pack was already awake. Isaac complained about 5 o'clock being the earliest he's ever woken on a Saturday morning. Everyone was quietly minding their own business, waiting for Derek to wake up.

Derek's phone rang; everyone heard it. Derek snatched it up as if he'd been awake waiting for it. He answered the call before he even checked who it was.

" _Derek?_ " the sheriff asked. 

"Sir," Derek greeted. He was anxious.

" _We've got a report of a wrecked car on someone's property. I'm going to investigate soon."_

Derek immediately understood. "Is it the jeep?"

_"We don't know yet. Do you want to come with me to look around?"_

Derek was nodding vigorously when he agreed, before realizing the sheriff couldn't see that. He voiced his agreement, and the two of them set up a meeting place. The sheriff would drive, since it was official police duty. No one would mind if Derek showed up to help on such a trivial matter. Derek wasn't sure if he should hope that it was Stiles's, or if he should hope that it wasn't- because it would mean that Stiles really was missing.

He just settled for not thinking about it yet. Not until he saw whatever car it was. 

He hugged both of his sisters and thanked them for coming even though he'd protested. It was probably a useless drive, since they hadn't found anything the night before. He hoped that Laura hadn't just rushed out of her interview to sit around here and do nothing but wait anxiously. 

She relieved his fears and explained that she and Cora had just been having some girl time anyways and that they were both glad to be back. Derek was glad to have such caring sisters. 

"The sheriff called," Derek told everyone, when Erica asked what the news was. "They found a car somewhere, so we're just gonna go check it out and see if it's his jeep."

"Good luck," Cora said, before kissing him on the cheek. She hadn't done that since they were very little kids. Derek must have let slip just how nervous he was.

 Derek drove to the police department as fast as he could. He narrowly avoided several accidents in his haste to get there. The sheriff didn't even wait for Derek to get out of his car before he walked calmly over to his own sheriff cruiser. He waited for Derek to jog over, and they both climbed in wordlessly. Derek could smell the worry that was hidden under the sheriff's facade. He almost wanted to laugh at how much anxiety was rolling off of the two of them. But he didn't.

Eventually the sheriff pulled onto a narrow back road that looked extremely old. There was no one else driving on it this early in the morning, so the pair was able to find the house pretty quickly. It was a normal country looking house with a large yard and a long driveway. The sheriff unabashedly pulled his car all the way up the drive and parked right behind the car already there. 

"This is the house with the complaint," the sheriff told him, the first words they'd spoken. Derek nodded and got quickly out of the cruiser.

As he began to stride to the door, the sheriff held up his hand to slow him. "This is official business, even though it's a small complaint, so please just let me do the talking."

Right. Derek understood that. He wasn't sure what to do other than stand behind the sheriff menacingly. He wasn't trying to be scary, honest, it's just that he tends to scowl when he's uncomfortable or, in this case, anxious.

 The sheriff knocked heavily on the door, and after a few moments a man answered. He looked about thirty, with short brown hair and a scowl nearly equal to Derek's. Apparently he wasn't aware that the police were making a house call. The sheriff explained the situation easily enough, being used to people not being terribly happy to see him.

"My wife must've called you," he said, not unkindly. "She told me it was out back in the ditch."

"If you'd kindly show us to it, I'd appreciate it," the sheriff replied politely. The man reluctantly agreed. He wasn't dressed for the cold weather though, and was unhappy to have to actually step outside.

The sheriff, followed by Derek, circled around the house to the back. The man pointed to the obvious rear end of a car sticking out of a wide ditch. It was in between two tall pine trees with very little room to see what kind of car it was. Derek found himself out pacing the sheriff. The moment he could see the car, Derek's heart sunk so quickly that it almost hurt him.

It was the jeep. It was slightly battered and looking very pitiful the way it was carelessly driven into the ditch. Derek sunk to the ground, resting on his heels with his head in his hands. The sheriff didn't even want to get close to the jeep when he saw Derek's reaction.

He thanked the man, who was staring rudely at Derek having some sort of a breakdown in the middle of his yard. All the guy wanted to do was have the car removed so he could go back inside where it was warm. 

"I'll call a truck immediately to come get it," the sheriff told him. "We'll be off your property soon if you don't mind us looking around at this first."

Derek's mind wasn't functioning. With Stiles's jeep here of all places, it meant that the boy could be almost anywhere. Either he had gotten lost, driven into a ditch and wandered off, or someone else had purposefully tried to get rid of the jeep. While the sheriff was making arrangements with the man, Derek got as close to the jeep as he could without getting in the water of the ditch. It looked pretty nasty.

He leaned against the end of the jeep and grasped the door handle. He had to work hard to swing the door open, but as soon as he did, climbing inside the car was easy enough. He checked again to be sure that the two men weren't looking before he started sniffing around the interior. All he could smell was Stiles's familiar scent. Nothing else.

Derek's eyes glowed brightly as he attempted to heighten his sense of smell. A strange smell tickled his nose suddenly. It reminded him of something a hunter had used on his sister once. She had narrowly escaped it then, but had reeked of that same chemical odor for almost a week after. Derek searched for the source of the smell until he dragged a small white rag out from under the driver's seat. He cringed and got immediately out of the jeep and jogged up the yard towards the sheriff.

He held it up to both men, and the sheriff took a whiff before cringing the same way and holding it away from his body.

"What is that?" The man asked.

"You don't know?" Derek asked suspiciously.

"We didn't even go near the vehicle," the man replied. Derek listened to his heart beat, just to check. He wasn't lying.

"We'll need to take this back to the department," John told Derek suddenly. "We've got enough evidence to file a missing person's report."

"Missing person?" The man echoed, only they both ignored him in their haste to get back to the car. The sheriff put the rag into a plastic ziploc bag and put it carefully in the console. 

"You're coming back in a while, correct?" Derek asked quickly as the sheriff started the cruiser up. He hadn't gotten in yet. 

Sheriff Stilinski nodded slowly and raised an eyebrow. Derek swallowed. "I'm going to stay and look around."

The sheriff narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "Don't get yourself into trouble, Derek."

"I won't," Derek promised, not sure if he was lying yet.

The sheriff cruiser peeled off down the road, dust flying. Derek didn't have very long before the rest of the police showed up again. He dialed Laura immediately. 

She agreed to meet him there as fast as she could, but Scott overheard and told Derek he'd be coming too. When the others started to agree to come too, Derek shook his head. More than three people snooping around people's yards would draw too much attention. So, he only allowed Laura to bring Scott, because he argued that he most likely had the strongest nose.

"Bloodhound," Derek heard Laura tease. Derek wanted to be able to laugh at her joke as well, but he was still too anxious about finding Stiles and bringing him home safely. This had gone on long enough.

When Laura and Scott arrived, Derek had already formulated a search plan in his mind. Scott didn't seem to like it as he explained it. 

"Maybe we should talk to the neighbors first?" Scott suggested. Derek wanted to kick himself for not thinking of that. Laura had the best eyes, so she continued to look around the jeep for any more information. Scott and Derek approached the houses on both sides of the first one. Neither of them had anything that caught the wolves' attention.

They heard a door slam shut somewhere behind the first house. Scott raised an eyebrow in question, but neither of them had realized there was a house behind the ditch. It was well hidden with the dense foliage on the other side of the fence. Derek shoved his way through the bushes aggressively, Scott following in his wake. 

They walked around to the front of the house cautiously, where they took note of another row of houses that they hadn't known were there. It was an odd little cul-de-sac leading out to another main road. If they hadn't heard the door, neither of them would've noticed it.

Derek knocked on the door and bits of paint fell to the ground. Derek wiped his hands on his jeans and scowled back at Scott who only shrugged.

Both of them peered inside the large window facing the stairs as a woman came thudding down them to open the door. "Can I help you?" she asked nervously, making Derek realize he was scowling again.

"We were only wondering if you knew anything about the jeep that was found in the ditch behind your house this morning," Derek stated gruffly. He wasn't very good at being polite today.

The woman shook her head, and blonde ringlets landed messily on her shoulders. She tucked them behind her ear, still slightly intimidated by Derek.

Before she said anything, someone else came walking slowly down the stairs to check out the commotion. He waved cheerfully at the two strangers in his doorway. "What's going on?"

The woman smiled up at him, seeming relieved to have someone else to back her up. "Someone drove their jeep into a ditch last night," she informed him.

The man fixed his cool gaze on Derek. "Some drunk must've done it by accident."

The look in Derek's eyes made the woman cringe. "Whoever's it was, I hope you have no trouble getting it out."

Derek hadn't even noticed how rigid Scott had become. The young boy spoke up suddenly. "Do you mind if we look around?"

"I don't see why not," the man said easily. He told them to have a nice day and promptly went to shut the door. Derek's eyes immediately zeroed in on the coat rack standing oddly off to the side of the stairs. He stuck his foot quickly in the door. The man glared at him.

"That scarf," he said, pointing. He would've recognized it anywhere. Laura bought it for him when she visited London; he could see the British label from here.

"It was lent to me," the woman said earnestly. "It's a very nice scarf."

"Ah," Derek stared into her eyes suspiciously. Her heart beat had remained steady, despite the glares he was sending her way. The man shut the door firmly this time, and they both retreated upstairs. Scott and Derek were left standing on their tiny porch for a few minutes before retreating to the back of the house again.

"They were suspicious," Derek stated angrily. 

Scott was contemplating something very quietly. "She was human," he stated to himself.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Yes she was."

"He wasn't."

Derek's eyes widened. He hadn't smelled anything supernatural at all. Everything seemed normal, despite the creepy shadows from the tall trees surrounding their house.

"I could smell him the second he came down," Scott said. "He's an omega, definitely."

" _Werewolf?_ " Derek snarled, spinning around on his heels and attempting to march back to the front porch. Scott hurriedly stepped in his way.

"Wait!" he cried, wincing as Derek nearly ran him over. "We don't want them to know that we know yet." Derek could see his point; but it didn't stop him from clenching his fists as hard as he could to keep from punching something. His eyes were glowing too, so he spun away from the house as if someone was watching in the windows.

"By the way, what was with the scarf thing?" Scott asked. He was gathering every bit of information that he could. 

"I lent that to Stiles," Derek told him. He  _knew_ that it was the same one.

"We need to tell the sheriff what we saw," Scott stated. "I'm glad you saw it because it would be hard to explain that they were suspicious because we could smell it on them."

Derek and Scott found their way back to Laura, who had thoroughly searched the car. Stiles's smell was beginning to ebb away from the inside of the jeep. That fact alone made Derek even more upset. They had found very minor traces of Stiles after almost a full day of searching.

Laura had been unable to find anything else in the jeep. "Whatever happened, the jeep has been wiped down with an odor remover that's making it hard to pick up any more scents. Stiles's is already pretty deep in the jeep, but any temporary smells left were cleaned up."

That was  _not good._ "Whoever cleaned it knew that they were going to be dealing with werewolves trying to find Stiles. They knew how to clean up after themselves," Derek told Scott, who hadn't pieced it together. The boy looked as upset as Derek felt. It was hard not to despair. 

"We'll find him," Scott said, nodding furiously. "I know he's waiting for us."

\-------

A strong fist was slammed on the table, startling the other two people in the room. Three people were in an attic, waiting for the strangers to leave their neighborhood. Every second they stayed was a second that Theo couldn't afford to lose. 

His rage was evident in his body language, but most of all in his eyes. They were glowing an eerie blue color. Only the other male in the room actually grasped what that meant. The woman beside him was trembling and clutching his arm. If it annoyed him, he showed no sign.

"Why haven't you gotten rid of them yet?" Theo demanded. He sat in the chair so that the table was between him and the two standing in the opposite end of the room. He was enjoying the evident fear on the woman's face.

Neither of them answered, which only made him angrier. 

"Useless," he muttered. His tone was soothing, despite his actions. "I want them gone."

"We can't kill them with the police hanging around," the man replied, though he was completely submissive. Theo had broken both of them in perfectly. He felt a surge of pride.

"Then wait until you get a chance."

Both of them nodded.

"Scott probably could tell you were a wolf," Theo added suddenly, addressing the man.

"He shouldn't have been able to tell. I was careful," he protested. 

Theo's temper was rising again. "Mark. I want only Rita to deal with them now, do you understand?" His voice was steely and void of any emotion. 

The two nodded again, and slunk backwards towards the door. Theo had his nails out, and was scratching into the table. He swept the wood shavings aside with a lazy hand. "Don't fuck this up, idiots."

They both nodded furiously and shut the door behind them. Theo's laughter echoed with them down the stairway. Mark whipped around to face her when they made it down the stairs. He was glaring angrily at her, but neither of them said a word to each other, knowing that they could still be overheard. Mark wiped a tear gently away from Rita's face.

Theo was now trying to decide when to pay a visit to his special guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?  
> Sorry this one took so long; it's a long-ish chapter


	10. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the few remaining happy memories from that time period in Stiles's life.

[A long time ago.]

_Stiles and Theo were spending time together late one night in Stiles’ home. They had been bickering lightly about what movie they wanted to watch, until they finally compromised for an old thriller movie that sheriff Stilinski had mentioned was one of the classics._

_It was a stupid monster movie that Stiles forgot the name of as soon as they actually started watching. This wasn’t one of their usual make-out movie dates that they usually had. Even though they were so close together on the couch, they actually watched the film. Though, from time to time, Stiles could sneak a few kisses onto Theo, who unlike his normal self, was totally engrossed in the movie._

_The effects were so bad that the creature killing everyone almost looked comical._

_“Do you think I’m like that?” Theo asked suddenly, almost to himself._

_Stiles glanced at him, confused. “Like what?” he asked._

_The other boy was quiet for a moment._ “Dangerous.”

_“Never,” Stiles murmured, nosing at Theo's cheek. “You’re a good person.”_

_“I don’t want to be like that,” Theo continued, as though he hadn’t heard Stiles. “I never want to be a monster.”_

_“If there’s one thing I’m sure of,” Stiles said, completely serious, “is that you could never be a monster.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's interesting to have some sort of insight on the way things were between them.   
> My goal was to give an example of how sweet they were before Theo changed.


	11. Monster

Stiles was growing tired of waking up and being faced with the same gray, lifeless walls of the basement he assumed he was in. Every time he fell asleep, he'd wake in a panic from some nightmare only to realize he was waking up and actually living one. Eventually, he'd decided that he didn't want to sleep and continue the continuous cycle of nightmares. He'd rather stay awake in one constant one.

His eyes were sunken and red. He was constantly rubbing them, praying that every time he opened them again there would be something else in front of him. He felt greasy and dirty.

Everything to Stiles at the moment was unknown. He didn't know where the blankets came from. He didn't know why the stupid light bulb in the ceiling was constantly flickering. He didn't know where he was.

He was sitting all bunched up in the corner of the tiny little room, feeling absolutely claustrophobic. If he thought about where he was for too long, the walls started to feel like they were inching closer to him and making his space smaller. There was nothing to look at, except for the solid-colored blankets, the light bulb, or the door. So, Stiles pulled himself into the corner opposite the door and waited. He didn't know what he was waiting for, but he knew he wouldn't like it regardless.

The door was one of those really heavy looking ones that would probably be difficult for him to open even if it were unlocked. Stiles caught himself daydreaming about someone strong, like Derek, easily throwing that door open and letting him out. He really missed Derek. He missed his dad too. And Scott.

The lock on the door was extremely simple. It would've been easy enough for him to pick if he had _any_ sort of tools. There were tiny gashes around the lock, indicating that someone had reversed the lock- probably with the intention of keeping him inside.

The thought that this kidnapping had been so well planned out made Stiles immediately feel sick. While he'd been wasting time worrying about nothing, someone else had been planning this for god knows how long. And it had been  _easy_ for them to go through with it. Stiles had no idea how long they would keep him; or what they wanted from him.

Deep down in Stiles's mind, he knew who was responsible. But he couldn't bring himself to admit it yet. That would be assuming the absolute worst was true.

Stiles had kicked the blankets across the little room, as far away from him as possible, and resolved himself to accepting the gray cement floor. It was pretty cold without the blankets protecting him from it, but Stiles wanted nothing to do with the gifts from his kidnappers. 

He rested his head on his knees in front of him, and fiddled absentmindedly with the laces on his shoes. They were faded and worn, and Stiles remembered how hard he'd begged his father for money to get them. He wondered if his father had noticed he was missing. Because he had no idea how long it had been, any hope of being rescued was slowly dwindling in his mind.

Then, Stiles heard the sickening sound of the lock turning. Every muscle in his body froze as he watched helplessly. Warm air wafted lazily in through a slight crack in the door as whoever was entering paused for a moment. It was if they were hesitant about coming in. Stiles hadn't realized how cold it actually was in the room until the door opened.

When the door was finally pushed open, Stiles' heart thumped painfully in his ears. Theo took a few steps farther into the room and Stiles pressed his back hard into the wall, seeking to put as much distance between them as possible.

Theo took in Stiles' terrified state, and whistled thoughtfully. The boy looked sleep deprived, scared and cold.

Stiles couldn't help but stare at the first face he'd seen since he'd been put in this room. As much as he wanted to look away, all he could do was wait and attempt to steady his breathing. Theo's brownish hair was gelled up and perfect, as if he'd been preening before he came to visit his prisoner. Theo had a tight-lipped smile and a strange look in his eyes that Stiles couldn't recognize. Nothing about this person was the same as the one he'd loved a long time ago.

This was a stranger; an awful, cruel stranger.

Theo placed a small folding chair in the doorway of the room and sat down, eyeing Stiles like a meal. Stiles hadn't noticed that it was there. Stiles wanted to kick himself for not focusing on what Theo had. He could have easily had a weapon or something else equally as awful, and Stiles was too scared to even think about it. After that realization, Stiles desperately wrestled for control over his anxiety.

Stiles hated that Theo could probably smell how scared he was. He tried to appear as confident and brave as he could.

Finally, Theo spoke and shocked Stiles out of his rapid thoughts. "I hope it's not too cold in here."

Stiles narrowed his eyes, as nervous as he was. He kept his mouth tightly shut. His hope was that if he stayed quiet long enough, possibly Theo would realize that Stiles wanted nothing to do with him.

Theo didn't seem perturbed by his silence at all. He enjoyed it. "I guess it's not that cold, if you didn't need the blankets. Maybe you're doing just fine in here."

Stiles gritted his teeth, shocked by the sudden anger that was running through him. The amount of emotions in Stiles's body were overwhelming.

Theo grinned, as if he could tell exactly what was happening. "I'm glad you're here, Stiles-" Stiles cringed when his name was spoken, "-because I've really missed you."

Stiles' nostrils flared. "We broke up." He regretted breaking his silence immediately. Stiles thought back to Derek, and how disappointed the wolf would be if he knew Stiles wasn't able to hold his own against someone like this.

"You decided that. I didn't agree to it," Theo stated, as if reminding Stiles. He placed both hands on his knees and leaned forward to look Stiles in the eyes. "You broke my heart, you know."

Stiles clenched his fists so hard that his nails were digging painfully into his palms. The fear was still gnawing at his insides- after all, he'd seen what Theo could do- but the anger was slowly taking over. He hated this. He hated how easily Theo's words could get under his skin. This was someone who had known him better than anyone else. Theo knew what made him happy; he knew what made him angry.

And then it clicked. Stiles knew what pushed Theo's buttons in the exact same ways.

"You cheated on me," Stiles said, raising his eyes to meet Theo's gaze, as if he wasn't petrified. He got the desired reaction as Theo's eyes narrowed and he sat up rigidly.

"You know it didn't mean anything," the wolf replied. He seemed calm and collected all of a sudden. Stiles noted that he was better at hiding his temper now. "I only wanted you."

If he weren't in such a large predicament, Stiles would've rolled his eyes. "You still betrayed my trust."

Theo's face didn't show any emotion. "That's no reason to leave me for it. We could've fixed it."

Stiles could still remember the exact moment he'd realized that Theo wasn't faithful. It had broken his heart. He'd slept with a girl Stiles had known for a while. She was in a few of his classes. The girl hadn't known that Theo was with Stiles, so it wasn't her fault. It was Theo's.

"Bullshit," Stiles spat. "All you ever did was threaten me and scare me into staying. Whatever love I had for you was long gone by the time you cheated." 

 _Except, I did love him until then,_  Stiles thought sadly. Back then he could've imagined them being together forever. 

"Don't say that," Theo growled out, raising his fist to his mouth and breathing out heavily. He looked ready to kill someone, and yet Stiles wasn't afraid of that anymore.

"I loved you once," Stiles continued, as he sat up against the wall. He was feeling braver. "But the you that I loved slipped away and I wanted no part of the you that was left."

"Stop," Theo warned, though his voice was strained. He sat upright in the chair. Both of his hands were balled into fists now.

"You were a manipulative, hurtful asshole that I couldn't be around anymore. I tried to end things and you tried to kill Scott!"

Theo bolted out of the chair. In a second he had crossed the tiny room and grasped the front of the boy's shirt. Theo lifted him up to eye level and shook him a few times angrily. "He was helping you leave me!"

Stiles' fear won over the anger with Theo's close and angryproximity. Since Theo was taller than he was, Stiles' feet couldn't reach the ground. He felt choked by the hand holding him off the ground, and anxiety halted his ability to think. All Stiles could do was push his hands into Theo's chest and kick at him weakly.

Theo released his shirt and Stiles dropped to the ground. He scooted backwards so that he was pressed against the wall again. His hands were shaking noticeably and his breathing was ragged and scared.

Theo calmed himself, and looked at Stiles with guilt playing over his features. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to get angry."

Stiles had a renewed resolve for the silent treatment. He hid his hands in the sleeves of his hoodie and looked down at his feet pointedly.

Theo continued, ignoring Stiles. "I'm not the bad guy here. I know I've hurt you in the past, but you know I've always loved you."

Stiles wanted to vomit thinking about the fear that he'd always felt when he used to be in Theo's company. His love made him blind. After he'd realized how much Theo had changed, Stiles had become acutely aware of the subtle ways that the wolf had asserted dominance or tried to scare him into submission. Stiles didn't want to be subjected to that ever again.

That's why he'd been so amazed by Derek. He'd found a wolf who was appeared to be rough and intimidating, who was actually gentle and caring in ways that Stiles didn't know how to express. He wished he had met Derek sooner. 

"You never loved me," Stiles said suddenly, as if in realization. "You just loved that I was so easy to manipulate."

"I _love_ you," Theo gritted out. "And I know there's still a part of you that loves me." He was advancing towards Stiles now.

The boy's fear was growing, but somehow he was still able to speak clearly and confidently despite the danger it was putting him into. His every instinct was screaming at him to avoid the unnecessary danger, but Stiles ignored them completely. He just wanted this to end.

Stiles was filled with an intense torrent of feelings. The old memories flooded his mind and made him incapable of anything other than anger.

"I hate you, Theo," he spat, shaking his head. "You've made yourself a  _monster_."

Nothing would've had a bigger impact on Theo than those words. Even though Stiles was expecting the immediate reaction, it still scared the boy to his core. Theo had turned around in a split second and grabbed Stiles up off of the ground again by the throat this time. He held the boy angrily against the wall and glared into his eyes. This time, he was actually choking Stiles.

Theo's eyes were bright blue and glowing, and his teeth had changed into the sharp, wolfish canines that Stiles was afraid of more than anything. Stiles was vaguely grateful that he couldn't feel any claws digging into him yet. Theo's angry breath was blowing over his face in short puffs of air.

" _I am not a monster,_ " Theo grunted through his bared teeth. He looked ready to rip Stiles's throat out.

"This," Stiles wheezed as Theo's hands covered his throat, "is why I'll never love yo-" He choked. Theo's grip tightened painfully around Stiles's throat. The boy was gasping for air, using his weak human fingers to attempt to pry Theo's away from his windpipe. His vision was blurring and black around the edges and every sound was growing farther away.

Stiles was fighting for even a few wisps of air. His chest hurt and his throat was burning from the lack of oxygen. Stiles was sure that he was going to die. After what seemed like an eternity, Theo released his grip enough for Stiles to suck in a few desperate breaths.

"You don't know what you're saying," Theo stated, anger evidently ebbing away. He let go of the boy's throat and allowed Stiles to sink to the floor.

Stiles was rubbing his throat, trying to recover. Theo was standing over him, watching.

Stiles gritted his teeth. "This is not how you treat people you love!"

"I love you," Theo said again. "I can tell that you still want me!"

Stiles glared up at him suddenly. "I've moved on! _So why can't you_?"

"You haven't! Not yet! What we had was real!" Theo was shouting. Both of them were shouting.

"It was real!" Stiles yelled, pointing at Theo. "And you ruined it!  _You!"_

 _"_ It's not my fault," Theo responded, voice growing softer. Stiles was unsure who he was trying to convince. 

"It's definitely not _my_ fault," Stiles said. Never again would he let himself think that the things he suffered were his fault. "I can't be with you."

"Is this because of that moron you think is interested in you?" Theo asked suddenly. Stiles wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the question. Of course Theo would assume the blame was someone else's. He couldn't understand how Stiles couldn't love someone who threatened him and tried to hurt him.

But Stiles's eyes widened in surprised when he truly processed the question. "How do you kn- You've been watching me?"

"I've got friends now," Theo shrugged. His expression turned into a smug smile that Stiles loathed. "They told me about him, about how you've been spending so much time deluding yourself."

Stiles was too afraid to speak. If Theo knew about Derek, he'd do anything to hurt him, just to make Stiles hurt. The fear in his eyes betrayed him. 

Theo licked his lips, excited. He leaned down to put his face next to Stiles's ear. The boy went absolutely rigid as Theo pressed a kiss into his cheek. Stiles was disgusted and scared, but Theo hadn't finished yet. His mouth hovered near Stiles's ear. "I'm going to kill him for you."

Stiles bit as hard as he could into Theo's ear, until his tasted blood and the wolf pulled away, even angrier. Theo held a hand over his ear and a trickle of blood seeped through his fingers. Stiles couldn't breathe when Theo fixed him with a look of such fury. Theo kicked the folding chair as hard as he could and it smashed into the wall and fell into a crumpled pile of metal. Theo's fists were balled up tightly as if he was looking for anything besides Stiles that he could punch.

Stiles was vaguely appreciative that Theo hadn't wanted to hit him.

Stiles forced himself to stand defiantly against the wall and watch Theo's blind rage. Cringing away in fear would only add to Theo's view that Stiles could be controlled. Plus, Stiles needed to remind himself of Theo's true nature. He never wanted to forget what the wolf would do.

Theo suddenly relaxed and forgot about the chair that he had thrown. He stood coolly up and wiped the blood on the wall next to the door. "In fact," Theo said. "I think I hear my _friends_ tearing into him now."

Stiles's scared gasp pleased Theo immensely. That was the only reaction he needed, so he pulled the heavy door open and stood tall in the doorway.

"Don't get comfy," he said, without looking at Stiles. "I'll be right back down as soon as this is over."

The door swung slowly shut after him, and the locking sound echoed through the room again. It seemed bigger now, somehow, especially since Stiles was realizing how alone he was.

The panic was overwhelming him swiftly, and Stiles launched himself at the door. He pounded his fists into it as hard as he could and yelled louder still, but he doubted anyone could hear him. He couldn't even hear whatever Theo had that made him leave so quickly. Again and again he hit that heavy door, but it was probably useless.

Stiles wanted to hope that it was Derek. But if it was, then that meant the wolf was about to be attacked by the most ruthless, cruel killer that Stiles could imagine. He didn't want that at all.

Suddenly exhausted, Stiles remained huddled on the floor listening as hard as he could for any activity outside the door. It was painfully quiet, and his knuckles were throbbing to let him know they'd be bruising later. His mouth was dry, probably from dehydration and fear. 

 ****No one was coming. _Yet_.

\---------

Theo had heard the sound of a small fight beginning upstairs. There were definitely two sets of feet shuffling around. He momentarily forgot his failure at reaching Stiles, but he knew he'd break through to the boy eventually. How ever long it took.

When he made it up the stairs, his mood changed drastically. Mark was thrown against the wall of the living room as if he weighed nothing more than a doll. Theo had known that Mark wasn't nearly as experienced or trained as he needed to be in order to subdue Derek.

So clearly, Derek was strong and in no mood to play games. Theo decided that he didn't want to play games either. He crouched down on all fours, already wolfing out and meeting the challenge that Derek presented. He was excited and not at all afraid.

Derek was already ready, with his teeth bared and yellow eyes meeting Theo's blue ones. They circled each other warily, each processing his opponent. Mark was laying helplessly at Theo's feet, and the wolf kicked him aside angrily.

"Useless," Theo muttered at the unconscious kid, before Derek made the first move.

Claws were everywhere as the two fought, and if anyone had actually been watching, it would've been a hard fight to follow. Though, after a while it seemed like Derek had the upper hand. He fought with less rage and more clear-headed thinking. He knew when to hold back and exactly when to use Theo's force against him.

Theo pounded at Derek's chest, intending to sink his claws, but Derek knocked his arms aside easily. But Theo was quick, and Derek was unable to counterattack before the wolf was slashing at him again.

Derek bared his teeth and kicked Theo hard, throwing the boy to the side. Derek lunged and was able to leave a significant gash on Theo's side before he rolled away. The second he got back to his feet, Theo launched himself back at Derek and returned the favor by cutting into Derek's shoulder neatly. The older wolf's fist connected with Theo's jaw and knocked him aside for a moment.

Theo _liked_ to use his claws. They were his best and most reliable weapon, and he could cut deeper with them than with his teeth. He wasn't like Kali, the wolf who'd taught him to fight. She favored the claws on her feet more. Theo liked to slash and injure with his hands. All of his time training with Kali had actually helped him prepare for fighting now. Derek's arms were growing slower and more tired the longer they fought, so he resorted to kicking and lower swings of his arms.

Without meaning to, Derek had begun fighting in a way that gave Theo the advantage. Everything was happening so rapidly, that Derek didn't have time to process the younger wolf's advantage. Derek kicked again, but this time Theo was ready and pushed Derek's heel up so that he fell hard onto his back.

Theo withdrew his claws the second Derek landed, and started punching downwards at Derek who was still lying on the ground. Derek was blocking with his arms, but still took the damage from Theo's rage and raw power.

Derek managed to rake his claws down Theo's stomach in a split second and rolled away. Blood splattered over his chest, and even more was covering the floor. He heard someone scream from the doorway and looked up to see the woman he'd seen earlier in the doorway. Derek had intended to ignore her after she distracted him, but when she pointed behind him with another scream, Derek whipped around in time to defend himself from an attack at his back. 

"Rita! What _the hell_?" Theo barked after he'd backed away from Derek. They were circling each other again. "I told you to  _leave,_ stupid _bitch.._ "

Rita didn't answer, or at least Derek didn't notice her reply. All he saw was Mark standing up behind Theo slowly. He was staggering, most likely from his wounds that hadn't healed yet. Derek was unsure what the boy was going to do, so he stood defensively and waited for one of them to move.

"You won't find him," Theo stated loudly, with a wolfish grin. He hadn't noticed Mark yet.

"I will," Derek growled out.

Theo rolled his eyes. "He doesn't want you, either way. He wants to stay with me."

Derek bristled. He knew the truth; He knew what Stiles told him. "He'd never want to stay with a manipulative bastard like you."

Theo roared and lunged at Derek. "You don't know anything!" Derek had dodged him, and they were circling again. " _He wants to stay with me!_ " 

"He hates you," Derek spat quickly.

Theo shook his head spastically, and looked back up at Derek. Theo's eyes were no longer glowing. "It doesn't matter. You won't find him."

Derek immediately grew angry. He stood up to his full height, glaring down at Theo from across the room. He was extremely intimidating. "I'll  _always_ find him."

And then, Derek howled. It was something that neither wolf had ever heard before in their lifetime. Derek hadn't known he could make a sound like that. It shook the house all the way down to its foundation. When it ended, Theo, who'd been about to attack again, faltered.

Mark was looking extremely intimidated from behind Theo. Derek had almost forgotten about him.

Derek was suddenly acutely aware that this fight was  _for Stiles._ It gave him the reminder he needed to finish this. Mark was backing away from both of them now. He probably would've run to Rita if Derek and Theo weren't standing in between them.

Theo growled, though he was suddenly a lot less sure of what to do. Derek took advantage of that and flung himself at Theo with renewed fervor. His arms were slicing through the air until they finally connected with Theo's arms and blood splattered on the hardwood floor of the living room. Derek continued slashing until Theo tripped and fell backwards onto the wood and his head thudded against the floor. Derek grabbed Theo's throat and lifted him off of the ground only to throw him back down again.

The fight ended immediately after that. Theo was finally incapacitated and unconscious on the ground. It seemed almost too easy when Mark put his hands up and pleaded with Derek. "I don't care about him," Mark said quickly, "please just let us leave."

Rita was sobbing in the doorway behind Derek, and he gritted his teeth angrily because of the difficult decision in front of him. Thinking rapidly, Derek grabbed both of Theo's limp arms and started dragging him across the floor. Rita's sobbing was growing louder.

Derek ripped open a closet door, and by now Mark was grasping Derek's intentions. He grabbed a chair from the corner of the living room and offered it to Derek submissively. Derek shoved Theo roughly inside the closet and held the door shut with the chair Mark handed him. He studied it for a moment, just to be sure that it was secure. He had no idea how long Theo would be out, but he didn't want the wolf to escape.

Derek turned to face the two now standing in the room.

He bared his teeth and looked Mark dead in the eyes. "Get out."

Mark's eyes widened, and he nodded hard in acknowledgement before running to Rita. He gripped her arm and dragged her behind him towards the exit. 

Mark halted before he left the room. "He's in the basement." And then both of them were gone. They were used to running away. Derek listened just to be sure.

He immediately found the stairs that would take him to the basement, and his eagerness to find Stiles eradicated any caution he might've thought to had. All Derek could think of was the scared boy that was probably downstairs.

\-------

Stiles was sitting down in the same corner of the room that he had been in when Theo first entered. He was desperately wracking his brain for any ideas of how to handle himself. There was nothing he could do to escape, though, which he knew. 

 _I can't give in to him,_ Stiles thought, clenching both of his fists tightly. He'd rather die.

He was bouncing slightly, anxiously, as he worried about the way Theo had left. Had it really been Derek that Theo had heard? Some part of him believed it, while another part of him knew it was most likely a trick being played. Theo would probably be back any minute now. 

But then, the strangest noise rattled the tiny room Stiles was in. It shook everything up for a few seconds. It would've scared Stiles if he hadn't experienced the strangest feeling in flooding his chest. Stiles suddenly was full of hope. An inexplicable thought settled in his mind.

_Derek was coming for him._

Stiles leapt to his feet. Just as he was about to start pounding on the door again, his knuckles throbbed as if to remind him how much it hurt. Stiles licked his lips once, mind racing. He laid eyes on the crumpled mess of chair that Theo had left.

He seized it immediately and smashed it into the door like he was swinging a baseball bat. Again and again, he smashed the chair into the door. Bits of old paint flaked off of the door, but still it didn't dent. The only thing that dented was the chair. Stiles hadn't realized he was screaming until his throat started to hurt.

"Derek!" Stiles shouted again, with a final swing of the chair.  _Please._

And then the lock turned. Stiles's mind immediately panicked, and he pictured Theo covered in Derek's blood walking back inside. His grip on the chair tightened as he raised it above his head in preparation. Nothing could stop him.

The door swung open and Stiles stepped forward as quick as he could. A steady hand caught the chair easily, and Stiles found himself looking into Derek's eyes. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. 

The chair clattered to the floor loudly as Stiles flung himself at Derek. His arms around Derek's neck, and Derek's arms around his waist. They hugged each other so tightly that Stiles couldn't breathe. He didn't mind at all, though. Derek buried his nose into Stiles's hair and inhaled deeply. It smelled like home.

Stiles laughed into Derek's chest, but didn't pull away. "Did you just smell me?" he asked, voice muffled.

"Yes," Derek said, unabashedly. A few seconds later he noticed the blood smeared on the wall next to them. He pulled Stiles back hard. "Are you hurt?"

Stiles shook his head. "That's Theo's. I bit him."

"You _bit_ him?" Derek asked in slight disbelief. He raised his eyebrows in a look that Stiles was so familiar with. Though, he was strangely proud.

"Just his ear," Stiles joked.

Derek's face darkened. "You were close enough to bite his ear?" Stiles felt him tense.

"I'm fine," he promised. His fingers teased the hairs on the back of Derek's neck.

Stiles grinned at Derek suddenly. The boy pulled Derek's head down quickly and kissed him hard. Derek responded immediately, arms tightening around the boy and happiness flooding into both of them. Stiles's lips were rough and cracked from stress and dehydration, and Derek's stubble burned against his mouth, but that didn't stop either of them. Just as things were beginning to pick up, Stiles pulled away.

They took in each other's flushed faces. Stiles was still hyper aware of his surroundings. It was impossible to feel safe in this room even with Derek standing protectively beside him.

"Let's get out of here," he told Derek, who nodded.

"We should find the others," he agreed.

The wolf grasped the boy's hand firmly and led him up the stairs and into the living room _to freedom._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like!


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